


Gato

by CAPTAINPRICE79



Series: Agency Octalogy [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Badass female character, Bisexual Male Character, Canon Gay Relationship, F/M, Gun porn, Hard M, Hard Vulgarity, LOTS AND LOTS OF VIOLENCE, M/M, Porn with Feelings, Romance, Smut, This Is A Furry Story, anthropomorphic animals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:01:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 49,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13615839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CAPTAINPRICE79/pseuds/CAPTAINPRICE79
Summary: My name is Agent Gato. I'm currently on the hunt for a wanted terrorist named Tadasuke Hagiwara. We're in Osaka, Japan, and have made contact with our primary objective, Souta. Stand by for further information.





	1. Prologue

Silence is an odd thing. It can be either the best thing or your worst nightmare, depending on the circumstances. For example, to somebody that's trying to relax, silence can be bliss because it means there is nothing to distract them. On the other end of that spectrum, silence meant there was something incredibly dangerous in the area if you were hiking. Context made silence an ally or foe.

For the wolf that sat at the metal table in the center of a large and otherwise empty room, zip ties looped to a second pair that was in turn looped to the table keeping him seated, he was still waiting to see which end of that spectrum he was about to fall on.

He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been in the room. Hours, maybe, or even a day. Most of that time had been spent either unconscious or busy studying everything he could about the darkened room. Across from and twenty feet above him was a tinted window, designed to allow silhouettes through without giving away appearances.

The room was constructed of concrete, telling him it was likely a holding area of some kind. Most likely a government black site, but possibly a federal location.

Right, because the people that were holding him would really be stupid enough to use just a federal prison. No, they wanted him _secure_ and unable to escape, so that meant only the best of the best holding facilities for him. So, government black site it was. No matter; that only made his inevitable escape all the more satisfying.

A light switched on behind the window, casting the silhouettes of two mammals – a fox and a fellow wolf, if the silhouettes weren't actually manufactured – in a way that showed they knew what they were doing.

Oh yeah, this was definitely a black site.

“ _Well, well, well, I can't say I ever expected to be talking to the infamous Agent Dortch,”_ the fox, male and with a slight Asiatic accent, said. The wolf frowned. He was unsure as to who the fox was referring to; not that he would admit to that. He managed to keep the smile from forming on his lips; if they thought he was this ‘Agent Dortch’, that meant their intel was bad. If their intel was bad, then that was _very_ good for him. Bad intel he could use. Bad intel he could _manipulate_.

With a mental shrug and a snapshot decision to go along with it, the wolf replied, “Well, I'm sure you must have came in your pants when you learned you had captured me.”

“ _Ooooh, you have no idea,”_ the fox replied. “ _It ain't every day you capture one of the best in the intelligence field.”_

“I must admit, you did a good job. What'd you use, if you don't mind me asking?” the wolf said.

“ _Enough! This isn't a friendly chat, Agent Dortch, this is an interrogation. Now, you are going to tell us why you were in Osaka!”_ the mystery wolf interrupted, slamming their fists onto something. Probably a table.

Poor table.

“Osaka, you say? Hm, okay. I never could remember that name,” 'Agent Dortch' said. “Anyway, I was searching for intel on one 'Tadasuke Hagiwara.' He's wanted for a number of things, though as of right now we just want to ask some questions.”

“ _Questions about_ what?” the wolf asked.

“Oh, nothing major, really. Just some questions about why he's been having parts and metal shipped to a warehouse in the countryside,” 'Agent Dortch' replied. Knowing what their next question would be, he quickly added, “Parts and metal in numbers large enough to build a bomb of pretty big magnitude.”

There was a pregnant silence as the two mystery canids turned towards each other. The captured wolf frowned and sighed, then cupped his paws together. He gripped his thumb on his right hand, gave as hard a pull and turn as he could with limited room, then slipped his paw out, followed by the other. He reset his thumb, then rubbed it briefly. He looked up towards the window to see the outlines of the Canids looking at him. “They were a bit tight,” he said by way of explanation. A lie, in actuality; they were a bit too loose, though not enough to escape without doing what he had.

As he predicted, the wolf turned and rushed from the room, leaving the fox to make sure he didn't ambush anybody when the mystery wolf or guards came through the door to secure him better. Not even a minute passed before the door burst open and five guards moved into the room. All of them held automatic rifles in their paws, their fingers resting on the trigger guard.

 _'At least they know proper gun safety,'_ 'Agent Dortch' thought as the wolf walked into the room. He pulled the sidearm from one of the guards' thighs, pointing it at the captured wolf's head from right across the table. The action prompted an eyebrow to be arched. Before the mistake could be fully realized, 'Agent Dortch' had already grabbed the gun. He shot the two closest guards in their chests, then grabbed the wolf by the collar and dragged him across the table. He turned him, ducking behind the slightly larger wolf's frame as tight as he could while still pointing the gun at the guards.

“You son of a bitch!” the mystery wolf snarled.

“That is correct, yes,” 'Agent Dortch' replied. “Now, the three of you are going to lay down your rifles and pistols, and I will walk out of here. Are we clear?”

The guards exchanged looks, looked at the mystery wolf who, after a moment of hesitation, nodded, then set their rifles on the floor. Without even being prompted they slid them away, then did the same with their pistols.

Perhaps the formerly captured wolf would have to rescind his compliments if they gave up that easily.

“You won't get very far. You know that,” the mystery wolf snarled. A hum was his reply as he was shoved bodily across the table. He fell to the floor with a grunt, distracting the guards. 'Agent Dortch' quickly and without hesitation gunned them down, then walked around the table and shot the wolf. He looked up at the window to see the fox looking between him and the door. Without much hesitation, the fox ran.

Not that it would save him.

'Agent Dortch' looked down at the sidearm, checked the magazine, counted the bullets and added one onto the count for the bullet in the chamber, then slid the magazine back into place and walked out the door.

  
  


*******

  
  


Souta Takeuchi ran down the hallway, his chest heaving as he pushed down a mix of panic, fear, and loss. He'd been close friends with Naoki Takeda, the wolf that Agent Dortch had shot. He passed Ryouta Murata, one of the janitors, in his dash away from the escaped Agent. There was a gunshot from down the hallway behind him, followed by a gurgle. He turned his head to see Ryouta on the ground clutching his throat. He looked farther back to see Agent Dortch at the end of the hall. The wolf fired again and pain exploded in his leg. He fell to the ground with a scream.

Souta desperately tried to pull himself down the hallway and away from the agent, but the sounds of approaching pawsteps told him that he wouldn't make it. A third gunshot sounded out behind him and Ryouta's gurgling cut off. Tears formed in Souta's eyes as he was grabbed by the shoulder and flipped over. Agent Dortch stared down at him, body language relaxed way too much for somebody who'd just killed seven people.

There was a sharp whistle from down the hall, in the direction Souta had been running in. Agent Dortch looked up and Souta followed his gaze to see Riku Ito, one of the facility's best guards, approaching. Agent Dortch tilted his head at the approaching male, his curiosity apparently piqued. He pointed the gun at Souta's head and pulled the trigger, but only a _click_ came from the gun. He looked down at the firearm, then frowned. He looked at Souta. “Stay here,” he ordered. “I'll be back for you.”

 _'Right, because I can really go any-fucking-where else,'_ the fox thought bitterly. Agent Dortch began walking towards Riku as he tossed the gun aside. The guard drew a combat knife front behind them, holding it in a reverse grip.

Souta looked around while Agent Dortch was distracted. His eyes widened when he saw a security door a couple feet away. He looked at the wolf, then to the door, calculating in his head how fast he could pull himself to it, open it, and then close it. He turned back to the two mammals to see them about to trade their first blows.

He only hoped Riku was good enough to distract Agent Dortch long enough for him to get into that room.

  
  


*******

  
  


'Agent Dortch' blocked the punch from the guard with ease, ducking down under a swing of the mammal's blade. They brought their elbow down and into the side of his head, making it jerk to the side. He followed through on the movement, one paw resting on the ground as he brought his legs up. His kick connected with the guard's head, though didn't seem to faze him as badly as the wolf had expected.

The wolf came up to a standing position once more, quickly shuffling backwards to gauge his opponent a bit better. The guard was tougher than he’d expected, though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He rather enjoyed a challenge.

The guard grunted as he danced forward, swinging his blade for the wolf’s chest. He dodged it easily, only to be caught by a leg sweep and sent to his back. The impact left him short on breath and an ache in his back. The guard watched and waited, his only movement being a raising of his knife and free paw in a defensive stance as the wolf stood.

‘Agent Dortch’ rushed the guard, throwing a hard punch to the hand holding the knife. It flew from the guard’s grip and into the wall, clattering to the ground. The wolf sent more hard swings to the guard’s paws, hoping to break something, but he only succeeded in knocking the guard’s paws to the side an inch that was quickly lost as the guard brought it back into position time after time.

He didn’t even realize the guard was backing away, luring him down the tunnel that the guard had come from.

A grunt from his left warned him just in time that he’d been baited. He quickly took a step back as another guard stabbed a knife into the air where he’d been. The wolf took advantage of the blade’s position and kicked it with enough force to break it. The broken blade flew through the air, embedding into the first guard’s chest with a meaty sound. A gasp escaped him as he stumbled back, grabbing the blade in an effort to keep it still.

While the second guard’s attention was on his dying companion, ‘Agent Dortch’ grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off his hind paws. The coyote gasped and clawed at his paws, but the wolf ignored the actions. His grip tightened and the coyote’s eyes bulged. Still his grip tightened, even after the coyote’s actions ceased. It wasn’t until the vertebra cracked and broke that he dropped the coyote to the ground.

He turned his attention back to the fox he’d left, only to see him crawling into a now-open door. The wolf grunted and ran over to where the first guard’s blade had fallen, picking it up and throwing it as hard as he could. It barely hit the control panel next to the door, sparks flying as the door slammed shut right onto the fox’s injured leg, right on his knee. A scream split the air.

  
  


*******

  
  


Souta screamed as the door slammed shut onto his leg. He knew the door weighed a lot more than he could handle. That was only proven further when he found himself able to pull himself away from it. A look back showed blood pooling from where his leg had been removed.

Oddly enough, he wasn’t sad or angry or regretful like he’d always expected to be when he died. God only knows he had more than enough of each three emotions gathered over the years. Yet, despite that, all he felt was peace.

Well, and pain, but he wasn’t counting that.

The fox dragged himself to the far wall opposite the door, propping himself up against it and staring at the door. A small smile spread across his muzzle, eventually followed by laughter. He wasn’t sure why he was laughing, but anything to take focus away from the pain was more than accepted.

He’d never been a believer in an afterlife, reincarnation, or anything like that. Not even a deity. He dealt in facts, and those variables would only get in the way. Yet, even with his atheistic views, he found himself wondering if he’d see Naoki on whatever other side might exist. He certainly hoped so, anyway. He never had returned that pendant his friend had let him borrow a month back.

As his world slowly turned black, the red fox felt a brief sensation of heartache, and then that was gone, along with everything else.

  
  


*******

  
  


‘Agent Dortch’ turned away from the door and walked down the hall. He passed a couple dark rooms, but he ignored them. Even if they contained personnel, he wouldn’t kill anybody unless they got in his way. If they left him alone or helped him, he’d not harm them. He may kill others if they attacked him, but he was no monster that harmed anybody he saw or heard. That was too far, even for him.

A seed of suspicion began to form as he found doors opened or otherwise accessible that should have been locked to prevent his escape. It was suspicious, though perhaps they were allowing him to escape to save as many personnel as possible. That would certainly make sense.

He hesitated as he came to the door to what he assumed was the exit, or at least an access point to the exit. A frown was on his muzzle as he twisted the handle and pushed open the door and stepped to the side. When no automatic gunfire tore his body to shreds, he let out a breath he’d not realized he’d been holding. He stepped through the door and approached the exit, his steps becoming faster as he got closer. He shoved open the doors at a run, bursting into a courtyard. He smiled when he saw the gate, walking over to it and pushing it open.

With barely a glance around to make sure the area was clear, he set his gaze on the apartment complex a mile or so away and began to sprint. About halfway there he swear he saw a flash of light, making him slow to a stop. He squinted his eyes, wondering if perhaps it had been a trick of the light. When nothing happened, he looked behind him to make sure it hadn’t been a distraction. He turned back to the apartment complex, only to jerk back as a gunshot sounded out. He dropped to his knees, then fell over.

  
  


*******

  
  


Daisuke Kawamura pulled his eye away from the scope of the rifle, a grin forming on his muzzle. He looked to his right to see his spotter, Kenta Matsumura, grinning at him. “Got the piece of shit,” Kenta said.

“Fucking A-right we did. Right through the chest,” Daisuke replied. He held up his paw for a high five, which was happily obliged by his spotter. He stood and slung his rifle as his spotter packed his gear, then slung the pack. They both turned and walked away as Daisuke raised a paw to his earpiece. “Tadasuke Hagiwara has been eliminated. Move in and secure survivors; evac the package, and _carefully_. Director Wolfe wants him alive, so be sure to treat any injuries to the best of your ability.”

“ _Understood, sir,”_ was the reply. Daisuke smirked, then cut the link and began the long walk down the stairs of the long abandoned apartment complex just outside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

 


	2. 1. Activated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year and two months after the Prologue

White, barren walls stood on either side of me as I walked down a long, curving hallway. Each fall of my feet echoed, not even having a painting for the sound to rebound off of. A green, tall-collared greatcoat hid my overall body shape from view, though it did not hide the fact I was a fox. A security camera appeared around the curved wall and I reflexively reached up and pulled the M43 officer's cap lower onto my head, simultaneously hunching my shoulders. I did not need to do so, but after nearly twenty years as an intelligence agent, the desire to obscure my identity from cameras was ingrained into my psyche. There was no removing the ingrained training without wanting to, and I did not want to.

Besides, if I wanted to hide, then I wouldn't wear such a conspicuous outfit. No, there's a reason I was wearing such a getup.

As the large, wooden doors that separated me and my destination came into view, I slowed my pace in hesitation to a stop. I stood there, thoughts and doubts racing through my head as I wondered what I was being called beyond those doors for. Was it for another mission, my first true one in several years? Was it a reprimand for something I wasn't sure existed, let alone happened? Was it just to sit down and have a friendly chat?

I found the last option unlikely, though did not dismiss it out of hand. That was one of the first things I learned when I was undergoing training for the Agency's JTF: never, under any circumstances, do you dismiss a possibility until it is proven one hundred percent that it will not occur, and even then you keep it on the table, just in case.

The Agency, and the Agency's JTF in particular, were increasingly updating their recruitment standards, training regiments, and the variety of training prospective agents received. Me? I was trained in two different forms of martial arts, three kinds of self defense that were civilian, law enforcement, and military-based respectively, and hand to hand combat techniques used by different militaries around the world. I received combat training from former British S.A.S., American Rangers, S.E.A.L.s, F.A.S.T. operatives, and Japanese S.D.F. operatives.

I had a feeling the J.S.D.F. operatives were only included because of my Japanese heritage, but I didn't make a deal of it. Variety in training made it harder for the enemy to counter you, after all. If they don't know just how extensive your training is, then that makes them prepare for anything. And when somebody tries to prepare for anything and everything, they make mistakes, and you get a shot at neutralizing them.

I also received specialized firearm training, though heavily focused on pistols and smaller caliber revolvers. I could, in theory, handle a fifty caliber pistol, but I wasn't about to test that theory unless it was absolutely necessary. If I wasn't careful, the recoil alone could dislocate or even break my wrist, and that would not be fun.

It's not because I'm weak; far from it, actually. It's more just that my bones are a bit too small to reliably handle recoil of that magnitude which, to be honest, isn't that big compared to some other semi automatics, but it's big enough. I tend to prefer a nine millimeter, though I do have a love for a forty five every now and again. Sure, a nine millimeter might not be the best round (it's an excellent round, I admit, though not the best), but I have my reasons for my preference.

I shook my head, then focused my gaze back on the large wooden doors. I took a deep breath, then resumed my previous pace. I arrived at the doors quickly and immediately raised my paw and knocked on the right one. I was called in, so I pushed open the door and walked in, then shut it behind me.

The room beyond the doors was truly beautiful, in a sense. Cyan walls pleased the eyes while the sounds of nature played over the absolute best and clearest speakers that money could buy. Warbles, chirps, and tweets calmed whatever frayed nerves I may have had as I closed my eyes and allowed myself to become lost in the peace and tranquility. I could almost imagine a tufted titmouse landing on my shoulder and shaking itself from the water that the audio systems conveyed in such an exquisitely realistic manner.

It was like living in a slice of paradise.

Unfortunately, the moment passed all too soon and I found myself torn back to reality as the speakers cut out. My eyes snapped open to see Director Wolfe, the leader of the Agency's JTF for thirteen years, staring at me with a cocked eyebrow.

I cleared my throat awkwardly.

“It's nice to see you're feeling well,” the grey wolf remarked.

“Thank you, sir,” I replied. “It was due in no small part to the support the JTF has provided me unconditionally all these years.”

“We look after our own here, Sa-” I frowned, conveying my dislike of what he was about to say clearly. Wolfe sighed. “We look after our own here, Gato. You know this,” he said.

“I do, sir,” I replied. “But still, even after all this time, it still stuns me to see just how much my fellow agents love me enough to be there if I need them. I know I wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with before what happened, so I can only imagine how it must have been afterwards.”

“You experienced a very traumatic event, Agent Gato, on top of what you were going through from the accident twelve years ago. I'm amazed you were strong enough to survive what happened, let alone recover from it,” Wolfe said. I didn't take offense at the statement; the old me, the me before the accident, would have. But the new me? The new me knew that the grey wolf meant it as a compliment, and I would take it as such.

It pained me greatly that I was so confrontational and abrasive to all my fellow agents before what happened, though I knew I didn't have to tell anybody that. Somehow, they knew on their own.

“I understand, sir,” I said. “I'm just thankful that nobody ever gave up.”

“Never, Gato. You are one of our best agents, sure, but that's not why we cared for you even when you and the rest of the Agency told us to accept the defeat and cut our losses. We fought to help you recover, and succeeded in spite of everything, because you are our brother. You are arguably one of the best friends that somebody could be lucky enough to have, even if you can be a pain from time to time,” Wolfe said. He smiled and I smiled in kind. I hated to admit it, but I'd changed a lot during the recovery period.

Wolfe suddenly clapped, making me jump. “Now that the sappy stuff is over and done with, let's get onto why I called you here,” he said.

“Oh thank god, I thought you weren't ever going to stop,” I remarked. Okay, perhaps I hadn't changed that much, but I was noticeably a much kinder person than before. “The Agency really knows how to annoy the fuck out of its employees with these bugs.” Literal bugs, in this case; Wolfe wiped his paws off.

“Amen to that,” Wolfe said with a smirk. It disappeared quickly. “Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I called you to my office, yes?”

“It may have crossed my mind,” I replied.

“I figured as much.” Wolfe took a deep breath. “However, before we begin, what are you wearing?” he asked. I blinked, not expecting the question.

“Uh, there's a...convention, next week. I figured I'd dress up,” I replied. “Took me forever to get all the right parts in not only the right size, but the right model and color, with the correct...um...I forget the name of these things.” I tapped the Totenkopf on the hat.

“Totenkopf?” Wolfe said.

“No, I know that, I meant...” I sighed. “Never mind. Anyway, the other reason I'm wearing this is because the AC is down four degrees in my room,” I said.

“Ugh, Christ, I need to hire a new electrician,” Wolfe muttered.

“Benny is more than capable, sir. It's the systems.” He tilted his head at that, confused. “Specifically, my room is still registered under Agents Balao and Seawolf.”

“The european hare and arctic fox vixen?” Wolfe asked.

“That is correct, sir,” I replied.

“How is that the case?”

“I am not sure, sir. I’m not the electronics specialist.”

“Smartass.” I smiled faintly at that.

“And here I thought that was one of my best traits,” I said.

“Yes, well, your record says otherwise. How many times were you injured because you let your mouth run?” Wolfe replied jokingly. We both chuckled.

“Not my fault only you can handle my sense of humor,” I said.

“Yes, well, your sense of humor is...odd,” was Wolfe's response. “However, playful banter is not why I called you here. Let's get down to business.”

“...To defeat the Huns?”

“No.”

“Oh.” I paused. “Well, what is it you required of me?”

“I'm sorry to say, Gato, but you're being reactivated. Pack your bags, 'cause you've got a mission out East,” Wolfe said. I blinked, opening my mouth to argue. After a moment of hesitation, I closed my muzzle.

“Yes sir,” I said. I was, of course, upset, but getting angry would not serve a purpose. It wasn't Wolfe's fault, and I knew that, but it didn't make me any less pissed that I was going to miss a convention I'd spent years trying to find the correct outfit for.

Seriously, people don't realize just how difficult it is to find not only the correct model of clothing, but the correct colors. It was doubly difficult when the color you needed was next to impossible to find, let alone not usually made for the general public. I'd been forced to have it custom made which, in hindsight, was probably cheaper.

“Is...is that it? No arguments?” Wolfe asked, clearly surprised.

“Unless you send me to Osaka, then no,” I replied. The timber wolf arched an eyebrow, but said nothing. “Look, just tell me what my mission is before I decide to tag Balao and Seawolf as replacements.”

“But they're on their- …I mean, they're on vacation,” Wolfe said.

“You do realize that literally everybody in this building knows those two are married, right?”

“Those two would tear you apart if you interrupted their well-deserved vacation and you know that,” Wolfe said, completely ignoring my statement. No surprise there; he always did completely ignore relationships in the JTF unless they resulted in animosity in the event they didn't work out. If that happened, then he acknowledged it and found a way to fix the issue, but otherwise he completely disregarded the fact that relations occurred in the building.

“Yes, sir, I do know that I would likely be rendered unable to do much of anything if I made Balao and Seawolf take the mission instead of myself. To avoid that, I would suggest getting to the point of why I was called down here,” I said. Wolfe nodded his head.

“Right, right, of course,” he said as he stood. He tapped his desk a few times, then raised a hologram and sent it towards the windows behind him. The room immediately darkened as light blue text appeared, accompanied by a full-color photo of a red fox tod much like myself.

“Handsome,” I commented.

“Thank you,” Wolfe replied. I rolled my eyes. “This is Souta Takeuchi. He was one of the two that was in charge of Japan's CEZ holding center, back before they had that escape that resulted in a fair number of staff being killed. One of the mammals in charge, eight guards, and a janitor of all people.”

“CEZ?” I questioned.

“Chernobyl Exclusion Zone,” Wolfe replied. I blinked but said nothing, allowing him to continue. “As you know, exactly one year and two months, fifteen days, five hours, and forty eight minutes ago, there was an escape attempt. The end result was eight guards, including their best, a janitor, and the vulpine’s friend, a wolf named Naoki Takeda, all being killed. He lost his leg when an emergency door closed on it.”

“Who performed this escape?” I asked, ignoring the fact he'd repeated the casualty list. He did that sometimes.

Wolfe smiled.

“A wolf by the name of Tadasuke Hagiwara,” Wolfe replied. My eyes widened in shock and my right paw began to shake slightly. I moved my paws to behind the small of my back, as if standing at attention, and clasped it firmly. “Fortunately, he was shot by the facility’s sniper and spotter, Daisuke Kawamura and Kenta Matsumura, respectively. Bullet through the chest. Got half a mile before he was shot, and only because the duo was set up outside the effective range of Daisuke’s rifle in an abandoned apartment complex. Luckily, Tadasuke went for their building, so they were able to take him down before he could escape.”

“I'm glad to hear that the bastard got what he deserved, but what does this have to do with my mission?” I asked, a bit of annoyance in my voice. Wolfe's smile disappeared.

“Turns out, he has isolated dextrocardia,” the grey wolf replied.

“...Okay, for those of us who don't know obscure scientific words, what does that mean?” I asked.

“It means that his heart is on the opposite side of his chest than normal,” Wolfe answered. My eyes widened and my paws unclasped in shock, the extremities shaking. I clenched them, though that only exacerbated the shaking.

“Motherfucker…” I snarled. “How the fuck did we not know about this beforehand!?”

“I don’t know, Gato, but you can guarantee I will be double-downing on my sources from now on, especially in regards to Tadasuke,” Wolfe replied. “However, he is not your mission.”

“Sir?”

“Your mission is Souta. Tadasuke isn’t known for leaving behind loose ends, so if he comes after the tod, we need you to act as a bodyguard. He is a valuable asset, that Souta, and we can’t lose him. He’s our only connection to the Japanese branch of the Agency, and we worked extremely hard to make that the case. Use whatever means necessary to protect him.”

I snapped off a salute. “Yessir!”

“Good.” Wolfe paused, as if considering something. “Also, Agents Sargo, Tambor, and Tench will be joining you on this mission. And before you say anything, that is a deal breaker. Either you allow them to help you and assist in the mission however possible, or you don't get the mission.”

“But, sir, I can-”

“Handle it yourself? Really? You expect me to believe that when even the mere mention of that wolf's name sets off your shakes?” Wolfe interrupted. I opened my mouth to argue, thought it over, then sighed and hung my head. He was right and I knew it.

“Understood, sir. I'll allow their contribution to this mission,” I said.

“Good,” Wolfe replied. “Now, go prepare your kit. I'll send all of this–” he gestured to the data on the windows “–information to your tablet so that you can read up on Souta as soon as you get boarded.” I dipped my head, then turned and walked out.

  
  


***

  
  


I sat down in a random seat near the back of the jet that was provided for myself and my fellow agents. Apparently it was based on the Dassault Falcon 8X, but slightly larger and with more private accommodations. It even had a bedroom if you wanted to take a nap on something more comfortable than the seats.

As I heard the sounds of Agents Sargo, Tambor, and Tench boarding near the front of the jet, and I let out a sigh. Maybe the bed would wind up being used after all.

I decided to read up on the information that Wolfe had sent me, knowing that it would prove useful. Even if it only had some very basic information on his past, I would be able to use it. I skipped the basic information like species, gender, and all the rest with the exception of noting that his blood type was O-Negative.

I learned that the tod had been born in the Jikei University School of Medicine Hospital on October 27, 1975 and that his parents had been Naoto and Yuuka Takeuchi. At age nine, his father died in a traffic accident and his mother hung herself shortly thereafter, making him an orphan. In a display of charisma unbecoming of a mere child, he’d convinced the head of the orphanage he’d been moved to to allow him to continue his education. After graduating from high school, he’d gotten a job with a few unsavory people doing unsavory things. The details were virtually nonexistent on that subject, only that it involved ‘things no sane person could fully recover from’ and left at that. I was fine with that. I didn’t much care for the tod’s life story, but if it could help me, I'd pour over every detail I could get my paws on.

Eventually, Satou had made enough to not only afford enrollment in a prestige college, but also enough to pay off the mammals he’d worked for from coming after him to make sure he didn’t snitch any of their operations. Must’ve been a helluva lot for it to work like it had, or so I assumed. I didn’t know. Perhaps the mammals weren’t too hard to pay off.

Hopefully, I’d never have to find out.

After graduating from college with a Doctorate in psychology, he’d gone about a month without a job before he’d gotten lucky and been picked up by somebody with enough pull in the Public Security Intelligence Agency (Japan’s equivalent of the CIA) and had quickly proven himself as a capable Breaker.

‘Breaker’ is an unofficial name for mammals that will use everything they can to psychologically break whoever they were pointed towards. Like interrogators, only much, much worse. They don’t even have to lay a hand on you to reduce you to a blubbering mess, and anybody who claimed to be unafraid of a Breaker was either stupid, arrogant, or a psychopath.

Eventually, he’d been sent to a secret holding facility in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to use his skills on some of the worst kinds of mammals. He had supposedly stricken up a close friendship with the Head of Information Gathering, Naoki Takeda. Rumors were that they’d been more than friends, but there was no solid intel on the subject, so I ignored it.

I paused and read a couple lines above my current point, rereading the line about the CEZ. I let out a loud groan and let his head flop back. “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck,” I groaned.

“Something the matter, Agent Gato?” the painfully familiar voice of Agent Tench asked. I lowered my head to look at the rare-to-hear-about-let-alone-see water monitor. Reptiles were a group that one could go their whole lives without meeting one, only hearing stories and rumors. I found the man enjoyable company, for the most part, but a terrible bed warmer. It would be a lot easier just to buy a heat blanket, and yet I always went with Tench when I needed to blow off excess steam. I was still trying to figure out why, or what I found attractive about the lizard enough to go to him instead of one of the others. I was bisexual, goddammit, so why did I only ever go for males when women were available?

“Agent Gato?”

Right, Tench was checking on me.

“I’m fine, just realized something that annoys me,” I said. Tench obviously heard the answer, though he did not move. I stared at the reptile, arching an eyebrow after a moment. “What?”

“Do you wanna-”

“No, Tench, I do not want to fuck. Maybe later, after I’ve read the target’s veritable Wikipedia page that you and the others should also be reading,” I interrupted.

“I don’t think ‘veritable’ is the right word,” Tench commented.

I snorted. “Sue me,” I muttered. The water monitor rolled his eyes and walked off. “Oh, and Tench?” I called. The water monitor’s head appeared, curiosity in his eyes. “Make sure to tell the others that they should be reading the intel on Souta.”

“Understood, sir,” the water monitor said in a clipped tone of voice. He disappeared, leaving me to wonder about his sudden hostility. Surely the lizard didn’t think of us as some item, did he? If that was the case, then I was absolutely not looking forward to telling the guy I wasn’t into him in that way. As a sex partner? Sure. A romantic partner? Absolutely fucking not.

It wasn’t that he was a reptile; if that were the case, I wouldn’t have started sleeping with him at all. I just didn’t want any form of romantic relationship, from anyone. Perhaps I just hadn’t been obvious enough that it was just a stress relief for me. I would have to remedy that the next time we spoke privately. Privately as in not somewhere that would draw attention from civilians, anyway. I didn’t care if the other agents heard us. They knew the aspect of Tench and mine's escapades. In fact, everybody except for Tench himself seemed to know the lizard was just stress relief for me.

Yeah, now I was looking forward to telling the guy even less.

Right now, however, I was mentally berating myself for forgetting to ask what the Japanese were doing setting up a holding facility in the goddamn CEZ. And to take Tadasuke there all the way from Japan? Something wasn’t adding up, and that made me nervous. Like any good intelligence gatherer, I hated not having all the facts, but I didn’t necessarily need them to do my job. They made it easier, sure, but not impossible.

As if the other three agents were reading my mind, the Mission Impossible theme started playing over the speakers.

God. Fucking. Dammit.

  
  


***

  
  


About three hours later found me reading the last of the information they currently had on Satou. Apparently, whoever compiled it thought it would be funny to add Satou’s PornHub account as a link. Surprisingly, it had content on it, and his friend Naoki Takeda was in a few of them. While it didn’t confirm they were in a romantic relationship, it did confirm they had sex at the very least eight different times, judging by the number of videos.

Apparently the tod had a kink for bondage, domination, or a mix of both, since most video thumbnails had him either in cuffs and bent over a metal table or just being pinned down.

I silently bookmarked the url, then closed the web browser and shut down the tablet for power conservation. The bookmark was for reporting purposes, of course. Not like I could possibly have any other reason for doing so.

I sighed and stood with a groan, stretching for a long moment. My fingers only barely missed the top of the plane when I stretched; I couldn’t imagine what it must be like for Tench and the others, who were all noticeably taller than me.

A hand settled on my shoulder, making me turn my head with a barely repressed yelp of surprise. It was only Tench, however, and I sighed.

“Fucking hell, Tench, don’t sneak up on me like that,” I said.

“Apologies, Agent Gato. I’d have figured you would have noticed me when I wasn’t trying to be stealthy to any degree,” the lizard replied. Still snippy, which under any other circumstances would have been good. Given the reason, though, it was anything but.

I sighed once more; I mentally noted I’d done that a lot the last day or so.

“Tench, look, I…” I hesitated, looking around briefly, then turning away. “Follow me,” I said, then began to walk. The sound of Tench’s footsteps behind me told him that the lizard was, at the very least, curious why I wanted to speak away from where the others might accidentally overhear. We stepped into the plane’s private quarters, locking the door behind us to make sure that the others, at the very least, wouldn’t see them.

I wouldn’t look at Tench, at first. I faced away from the lizard and towards the rather comfy looking bed. Steeling my nerve, knowing that whatever happened would result in one or both of us being hurt, though whether it was emotionally or physically I wasn’t yet sure about. With a deep breath, I turned to face Tench. “Listen, Tench, you know that I love you like a brother, right?”

The lizard’s crestfallen expression nearly broke my heart, and I suddenly wondered which one of them was really the most likely to be hurt.

“I...do now, sir,” Tench said. I lowered my gaze sadly.

“Tench, look. I’m not proud to admit it, but this thing we have...this isn’t love, or romance, or whatever the hell you think it is. It’s not even a relationship. We’re just two friends that use each other for pleasure and to blow off steam, and, unless something changes to where I want to pursue a romantic relationship with you, or even a romantic relationship in general, that’s the most we’re ever going to be. I don’t think lowly of you, but I’m just not interested in that kind of relationship, with anybody. It’s nothing against you -- you’re a wonderful person and friend, and I couldn’t dare ask for more than that.” Just the fact that I’d actually said it made me suddenly aware of how cramped the quarters were. Tench was silent, just staring at the floor, and I felt more like a piece of shit than I ever had before.

“I don’t…” Tench shook his head as his voice cracked slightly. “I don’t use you,” he said. My expression grew sadder.

“Perhaps not. But I use you, and that’s not right,” I said. “I’ve only ever viewed you as a way to get off, and at the same time you’ve always been more than that. You’re my friend -- my best friend, even, and I shouldn’t use you like this.”

“I don’t… I don’t mind,” Tench said.

“Tench, I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me. Hear it in your voice every time you call my name. Every time we have sex, you long for us to be more than friends who get each other off. And I can’t do that. And I’m sorry for that. If you’re looking for a romantic relationship with somebody, you’d have a better chance dating a whore than with me, at least at this time,” I replied. Tench turned his head away slightly, arms crossing.

“I understand,” he said, attempting to sound like he was fine. His voice betrayed him, however, and I couldn’t help the pity that surged through me despite knowing that the water monitor wouldn’t want me to pity him.

I stepped up to Tench, a paw reaching out and resting on the lizard’s arm. Tench turned his head, surprise in his eyes, and I smiled softly. “Tench, just because I may not want a romantic relationship with anybody at this point does not mean I do not care about you. You are the closest thing I have to a brother in the Agency, and I do not want to lose you just because of a misunderstanding,” I said. Tench took a long moment to contemplate his reply.

Finally, he sighed and said, “One should not sleep with their own brother.” I blinked, caught off guard by the reply. I wanted to make a smarmy reply that I was Japanese, so it wouldn't be that big a deal to me, but I also knew he would just say that was a stereotype.

Besides, I wasn't even sure if those types of relations were really common in Japan.

“No, Tench, I mean that you're like a brother to me. You're one of my best friends, in or out of the Agency. Not, like, an actual blood relative. Like a...um...” I snapped my fingers as I struggled to find the correct words. “Like a brother in arms, like in the military, you know?”

“I...think?” Tench said, eyes narrowed in confusion. I sighed.

“It's like, um, we're...ah, dammit, this is difficult to explain. We aren't biologically related, obviously, but through the experiences we have shared, we are as close to brothers as two completely unrelated people can be. Does that make a bit more sense?” I said, arching an eyebrow slightly. I was struggling to come up with an explanation that made sense to the lizard, and that much was obvious. He wasn't stupid by any means, but he sometimes failed to understand what a phrase meant due to not ever hearing it before. And there were a lot of phrases he'd learned after joining the Agency.

“Like blood brothers,” Tench said after several moments. I opened my mouth to rebuke the claim, since I'd just said it wasn't like that, then paused.

“Which definition of blood brothers do you mean?” I asked.

“The mammals who cut themselves and mingle their blood to seal a pact,” Tench replied.

“...Uh, yeah, sorta like that, I suppose. We have, ah...mingled fluids, so to speak, so yes, sort of like that,” I said. I supposed that was good enough, and Tench seemed a bit more accepting of that explanation, so I'd go with that until I could think of a better explanation that also made sense.

There was a moment of silence before Tench suddenly smirked mischievously, moving a hand to rest it atop mine. For whatever reason, I'd left my paw on his arm long after it would be acceptable to remove it. I arched an eyebrow, curiosity and confusion forming in my expression. Tench leaned down, the lizard's mouth almost touching mine. “What do you say we...wat was the wording you used?” A few seconds of silence passed as Tench obviously pretended to try and remember what I'd said not even a minute ago. “Ah, yes, what do you say we 'mingle fluids', as you said, once more?”

I flushed, not expecting the talk to lead to this outcome. After a moment to find my voice ended with me just as silent, I stopped trying and just nodded. Tench's smirk just grew, though it was quick to disappear as lust sparked in his eyes. I was prepared for the water monitor to press his mouth to mine, but for him to quite literally – and easily, I might add – sweep me off my feet and push me down onto the bed? Okay, maybe a little, and a lot hoping.

What can I say, I liked it when Tench gets a little rougher than normal. Those teeth big enough to rip me to shreds if he so desired, the tight, coiling muscles that I could see move when Tench was without a shirt, the overwhelming strength he possessed, the danger –

Ah. Perhaps that is what attracted me to the lizard. The danger I knew that he posed yet would not unleash upon anybody but his enemies. Perhaps, just once, I longed to see it used in another way. A more exhilarating way.

Yes, that made sense. The water monitor was dangerous, and that was what attracted me to him like flies to a corpse. I'd always loved danger, and I'd always been told that I'd find somebody that was dangerous coming into my life, though, admittedly, I doubted that it had been meant in this way. Now here I was, a water monitor staring at me that sent chills racing up and down my spine.

Tench pressed his mouth to mine, and I groaned as he lowered himself just enough for our shirts to brush together.

Kissing a lizard is a lot different than kissing a fellow mammal; I should know, I'd done both plenty of times. However, that does not mean the experience is unpleasant if anything, it was – for reasons I'd yet to deduce – more pleasant.

Tench moved his left hand down and away from my paws, though his right remained, holding both down by the wrists with ease. He lowered his free hand to the small of my back, and I shivered faintly as he lifted me up and pinned me to the wall. I arched my back and groaned, paws clenching as both our jaws parted. We stared at each other for what felt like eternity, but couldn't be more than a couple seconds, at most.

The moment passed and our mouths met again, Tench lifting my shirt up. We parted long enough for him to remove it, then met again. He tried to remove his own shirt with his free hand, letting out a hiss of frustration when he was unable to remove it. He looked at me and tilted his head, as if trying to figure something out. He eventually seemed to come to a conclusion and released my paws to remove his shirt.

I couldn't really do much against the strong temptation to stare at his exposed chest. I'd always had a weakness when it came to muscular men; not so much the ones you see in those weightlifting magazines, though. God, that amount of muscle is hideous. I'm amazed they can even put a shirt on. Give me natural looking muscles any day; not too big, but definitely noticeable.

Around now is usually when our actions slowed slightly, and this time was no different. Tench pulled away, staring at me. If it were anybody else, I'd probably be a bit unnerved. Since it was Tench, though, I knew what he was staring for.

“You know, even if this is just physical, I still consider myself lucky,” the monitor said.

Yep, there it was, right on time. Slightly altered, but practically the same.

“If you call sleeping with me every so often 'lucky' then I worry for what you consider 'unlucky'.” I commented.

“Hm, probably Sargo,” Tench replied. I chuckled at that. He always named a different Agent when we had this playful banter, and for some reason I found that a lot more funny than it really was.

The door opened suddenly, Tambor walking in. He didn't even blink at the sight of us; he'd probably been expecting a much farther along session. “Gato, Tench,” the coywolf said respectfully.

“Do you mind?” I asked. “We're kinda busy.”

“I know. I just wanted to tell you that there was a link to PornHub on Souta Takeuchi's target profile,” Tambor replied.

“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Ignore it.”

“Understood, sir,” Tambor said, stepping back and out of the room, closing the door as he did so. There was a few seconds of silence before the door opened a crack and his paw appeared, turning the lock and shutting the door again. Tench huffed in a mix of annoyance and amusement before turning his head to look at me again.

“Souta has a PornHub account?” he asked.

“If you'd read the info, you'd know that,” I replied jokingly. Tench chuckled. “Now, where were we?”

“About to have sex,” Tench answered.

“Ah, right,” I said. “Let's get back to that.”

  
  


***

  
  


I lay on my back, staring at the ceiling with my arms crossed under my head and Tench at my side, facing away from me. I knew he was awake; his breathing, while good enough to fool a rookie, was still a touch too measured to be anything other than an attempt to seem asleep. His tail twitched from time to time, another attempt to seem asleep by simulating a dream.

'A for effort, buddy,' I thought with amusement.

“Hey Gato?” Tench said suddenly, rolling over to look at me. I turned my head with a quiet hum to indicate I was listening. He'd probably realized I knew he was faking. When he didn't say anything, I arched an eyebrow.

“Yes, Tench?” I said.

“I was wondering something.”

“I figured as much.”

“Are incestual relations really as popular or common in Japan as media entertainment make them seem?”

Well, I wasn't expecting that question.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well, I know you, and I know how your mind works; you were probably thinking up some smartass reply to my earlier statement that one should not sleep with their brother with something about you being Japanese.”

“...Tell me again why you didn't become a private investigator?”

“Funny,” Tench said.

“Seriously though, why do you wanna know?” I asked, tilting my head.

“Just curious, really,” was the water monitor's reply.

I frowned, unsure how to answer the lizard. “I...don't really know. I haven't been to Japan in twelve years, and I don't remember much about my life there before I was taken in by the Agency. Last time I was there I never left the facility I was staying in, and we didn't have any siblings working there, so I honestly couldn't tell you a reliable answer. I suppose you should just be prepared for anything,” I eventually said. Tench let out a hum of acceptance.

“What do you feel about the subject matter?” he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

“I don't really care,” I replied. “As long as it's genuine, and feelings are reciprocated, then is it really wrong? When you think about it, incestual relationships are only considered wrong because society tells us that it's weird and science tells us of the genetic problems it can cause. Therefore, it's really nothing but a societal construct designed to keep us from doing something that doesn't really hurt anybody unless they actively try to be hurt by it. So, personally, as long as you love each other, I don't care if you enter a relationship with a family member, a random stranger you met on the internet, or whoever you want to be in a relationship with. It's the choice of you and your partner, and nobody else has the right to suggest otherwise.”

“So you're okay with it,” Tench said.

“I'm indifferent to it as long as it's a real relationship,” I said. “It doesn't matter if I'm okay with it anyway. When you love somebody, you love them. You don't choose who you love; I know that better than a lot of people.”

Silence followed for a long moment before Tench turned to face me. He placed a paw on my left side and pulled me closer, nestling his head into my shoulder. I allowed the act of affection, though I was saddened to know I could not genuinely return it. I didn't know if I ever could.

The moment that we had found ourselves in was peaceful, almost blissfully so. Of course, that meant that Tench had to ruin it.

“So, where're we staying in Osaka?”

 


	3. 2. So Much For A Quiet Entrance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Agents land in Japan, Gato intervenes in a possible crime, and another Agent is introduced into the fold.

I stepped into the jet bridge with a black duffel bag hanging from my shoulder and a rolling suitcase dragging behind me. I drowned out the sound of tourists, people coming home from vacation, and security guards. I slowed, moving to the back of the group and allowing the others to interact with the security.

They used one of our verification codes and got the guards to turn off the metal detectors and whatever the machines that scanned the insides of your bags were called. We stepped through the metal detectors, collected our bags on the other side, and dipped our heads to the security guards in thanks before making our way to the exit.

We stepped from Itami Airport and into the sunny Osaka day. I closed my eyes as the natural warmth seeped into my body, a soft purr escaping me. It was the first noise I'd made in hours.

However, just because I purred did not mean I was happy. I was fucking pissed at Wolfe for sending me back to Japan, and he would know that. He would expect me to call, to cuss him out, probably call him a cunt a couple of times for good measure. I wouldn't be doing that, though. Instead I would remain silent until I finally relaxed. It was the best decision.

I opened my eyes at the feeling of a paw on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Agent Sargo looking at me with a cocked eyebrow; he was expecting a response to something I had not heard.

Instead of requesting he repeat it, I just shrugged and shook my head to indicate I hadn't heard. He sighed, apparently realizing I was going to remain silent, and turned to Tench. The water monitor glanced at me but would not hold my gaze.

I couldn't fault him for my anger and I knew that, but he was a much more easily accessed outlet than Wolfe, so he would be my target until I could get to a private location and call the son of a bitch. He'd made it known he had thought I knew where we were going, but that only made me angrier.

The other three agents were talking amongst themselves, so I fished my phone from my pocket and began searching for a cheap place to stay. It didn't take me long to find a deal that was both cheap and sufficient for our needs.

I flicked my tail; Tench automatically glanced towards the motion. He looked at me and I extended the phone towards him. He walked over and took it, then moved back to the other agents. I turned away from them, staring down the street absentmindedly as they debated on the price, the setup of the room, where they'd put their stuff and who slept in the same bed as who.

“I could sleep with Gato,” Tench suggested. I turned to see him looking at me, waiting for input from me. I shrugged to indicate I didn't care, then turned to look back down the street. I began to walk, heading in the direction of the hotel I'd chosen. The others followed, still debating.

About ten minutes later my ears swiveled forward and my eyes focused as the sound of an argument reached me; I came to a stop. I tilted my head, turning slowly to try and pinpoint where it was coming from. I eventually locked onto it and began to move towards it. I had the feeling it might not be resolved peacefully, judging by the harsh, angry tone occasionally interspersed with soft, fearful words. I ignored my fellow agents who called my name curiously,setting my bags down, crossing the street and looking down an alley to see a male grey wolf arguing with a female timber wolf.

“Tsuneari, I already told you, Hisayuki is busy! He doesn't have time to answer respond all the time, and when he does it's usually when I'm asleep or otherwise occupied,” the wolf said.

“I don't care, bitch! I want a response from him by tomorrow, otherwise I'm going to go to him personally!” the ferret snapped.

I silently picked up an empty pop can, tossing it into the air to judge the weight, then tossed it a final time as my foot heaved back, then forward. It connected with the can and sent it flying, sailing right between the two wolves. It clattered to the ground a dozen or so feet past them, though their attention was on me now.

“The fuck you want?” the grey wolf asked. I remained silent, just staring at the canid, gaze focused and sharp. He looked between me and the timber wolf, then began walking towards me. He pulled a butterfly knife from his person, flipping it open and sneering at me.

The wolf's arm tensed right before he attempted a stab. I moved to the side, grabbed his wrist as he overextended, then brought my knee up into his elbow. He screamed as it snapped, bone shoving through his skin. I snatched the knife from his paw and brought the point to his throat.

“W-wait! You win!” he said, panic and pain in his voice. I looked towards the timber wolf and he followed my gaze. She was quick to pick up on the fact I was silently asking her what she wanted me to do to the idiot. After a moment she nodded.

The grey wolf's eyes widened.“Y-you bi-” I shoved the blade into the wolf's throat, cutting off his insult. He gurgled as he fell to the ground, blood pooling around him. I turned to look at the timber wolf, who bowed.

“Thank you,” she said in Japanese. I dipped my head. “Uh, can you talk?” I hummed affirmative, but said nothing. Luckily, she caught onto the fact I was purposefully avoiding talking as fast as she realized I had asked her whether she wanted me to spare the wolf or not.

“Well, um, thank you again,” she said. I made to dip my head, only to tense as she began approaching me. She came to a stop mere inches from me, staring down in curiosity. I arched an eyebrow in confusion. Her ear twitched and her head raised, looking past me and letting out a yelp of fear and surprise. I turned to see Tench, Tambor, and Sargo staring at me.

“Oh fuck, Gato, what did you do?” Sargo asked, annoyance in his voice.

“I think it's obvious that he provided assistance to somebody in need of it,” Tambor commented. Sargo glared at him, then looked back at me.

“Well?”

I sighed, knowing I was going to have to talk in order to explain the situation.

“He saved me,” the wolf said suddenly, making me blink and look at her. “I don't know what would have happened if he hadn't intervened, and he did not kill that wolf on a whim.”

“Then why?” Sargo asked. He crossed his arms.

“He looked to me and I told him to,” the wolf replied. Sargo blinked, clearly not expecting such an answer.

“This true?” he asked, looking at me. I dipped my head. “Why?”

“Sargo, this isn't an interrogation. Leave Gato alone,” Tench said. The lynx frowned, letting out a huff before turning and stepping from view. Tambor followed, likely to make sure he didn't leave without me and Tench.

“I'll leave you two to yourselves,” Tench said. I grimaced, knowing full well what he was implying. The water monitor smirked, then turned and walked from view.

“So, Gato, huh?” the wolf questioned.

“Hm,” I replied.

“Like the submarine class?”

There was a moment of silence as I stared at her. I blinked rapidly. Not very many people realized that Agents were named after sub classes.

“Uh, yeah,” I said. It felt good to talk again, even though I'd gone a lot longer without talking before. Probably was just because it was better than grunting and humming.

“Oh, you do talk,” the wolf said, feigning surprise.

“I said that I could,” I replied.

“No, you hummed. You did not 'say' anything until just now,” the wolf replied smartly.

“Okay smartass, what's your name?” I asked.

“Yachi Akamatsu; pleased to meet you,” the wolf replied. “Granted, it's not the best circumstances for a meeting, but...”

“Well, better this way than finding your body, eh?” I joked. Yachi chuckled.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” she conceded. “Anyway, you should probably go back to your friends. I'm sure you have somewhere to be.”

“Not in a rush,” I replied. “So, who was that guy, anyway?” I gestured to the dead grey wolf. Yachi's expression soured.

“Just some random thug,” she said.

“He seemed to know you pretty well for some random thug,” I commented. Yachi grimaced and let out a warning growl. I just arched an eyebrow, not at all intimidated.

“He and my brother had an agreement, but my brother hasn't been fulfilling his end of the deal. So he came after me to find out where my brother was staying,” she eventually said. I hummed in thought.

“Well, I guess your brother doesn't need to worry about the deal now,” I commented. Yachi huffed in amusement.

“No, I suppose he doesn't,” she agreed. “So, what is it that you do?”

“I suppose you could say that I do contract work, though that would be simplifying things a great deal,” I said after a moment of thought.

“What kind of contract work?” the wolf asked curiously.

“Depends on what the client wants,” I replied. “I can do self defense training, gun training, protection detail, etcetera etcetera.”

“So you're like a merc,” Yachi said.

“Well, not quite,” I replied. “It's an official job.”

There was a moment as Yachi frowned, lowering her gaze as she tried to decipher what I meant. After almost a minute she finally blinked and looked at me.

“Government spook,” she said.

“Not that official,” I replied. “Well, sort of, but not really.”

“Should you really be telling me this?” she asked.

“We don't do anything illegal, and we're not really a shadow group, so I don't see why not,” I replied. “I mean, there are things I can't tell you, but my employment is not one of those things.”

“Oh,” Yachi said. She hummed in thought.

“Were you hoping I was some kind of international man of mystery or something?” I asked with a cheeky chuckle.

“No, I suppose not. Just expected you to be more secretive, I suppose,” the larger canid replied. She sighed. “Well, I should be going. It was nice meeting you, Gato.”

“You as well,” I said. We both took a step back and bowed. As I came up the wolf caught me off guard with a kiss. It wasn't quick or chaste; she'd clearly been planning on doing this for at least several minutes.

Both of us stood there, muzzles pressed together and ignorant of our surroundings for several long moments. My eyes slowly opened as she pulled away.

“Okay,” I said, voice high pitched and squeaky. Yachi chuckled.

“Sorry, but I didn't think that just telling you thanks was cutting it,” she said. She walked past me and out of the alley and I turned to watch; she turned right and away from where the other agents had walked. I took a moment to smooth down my slightly fluffed up fur, then turned and walked out. I turned left, meeting up with the others after about fifteen seconds.

“So, how'd it go?” Tambor asked teasingly.

“About as I expected,” I replied. A lie, obviously, but I was not going to open the can of worms that would result if I told them what really happened.

“And that would be...?” Sargo arched an eyebrow.

“She was thankful, I said it was no big deal, we parted ways,” I said. “More or less.”

“I don't think Tench will be happy if you're going around looking for other mammals to sleep with, you know,” Tambor commented.

“Okay, first off, me and Tench are purely physical. Secondly, he knows this,” I said, annoyance in my tone. “And finally, I'm not going to sleep with somebody I barely know.”

“How well do you know Tench, exactly?” Sargo asked.

“Better than you two, that's for sure,” I replied. “How many family members does he got?”

“Tench has family?” Sargo and Tambor both asked, nearly simultaneously.

“See?”

“Alright, fair enough. Still though, what're you going to do if she sees you again and is more thankful?” Sargo asked.

“Let's hope that doesn't happen. I really don't want to involve civvies more than I already have by saving her,” I said. Before he could reiterate the question like I knew that he would, I added, “And if it does, I'll turn her down. Even if foxes and wolves are statistically unlikely to conceive, I ain't about to take that risk with somebody I might never see again.”

“Hm, that what you said to Marianne?” the lynx asked. Tambor inhaled sharply, his eyes widening at the blatant jab. He stared at Sargo.

“John, what the fuck!?” the coywolf exclaimed. Sargo turned his head, looking at Tambor with confusion in his eyes. Something told me he didn't realize.

“What? It's a valid question considering what-”

“John, they fucking lost it!” Tambor shouted, shoving the lynx. The feline blinked, mouth slackening slightly.

“Oh,” he said, quietly. “Oh God, Gato, I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

“It's fine,” I said, waving him off. “It was a long time ago.”

“Gato, it was only four years ago. That's not 'a long time ago',” Tambor said.

“I said it was fine!” I snapped. “Just drop it, okay!?” The coywolf stared at me for a moment, clearly wanting to argue. After a moment, he sighed.

“Alright, fine,” he said.

“Where's Tench?” I asked, letting out a huff. I could not fault the coywolf for his worry; it was more than understandable that I'd be upset still, but I just wanted to stop talking about it altogether.

“He went to go find something for us to get around with,” Sargo replied. His voice was faint, expression awkward. I got the feeling he was more trying to seem sorry than actually sorry, though. But, that was his alexithymia for you.

To my understanding, alexithymia was a more emotion-oriented version of psychopathy. In the more severe spectrum of the trait, one is unable to feel emotions. I was unsure if that was completely correct, but again, that was my understanding of it.

“Like a car?” I asked.

“Something that all of us can comfortably fit in, Gato,” Tambor said.

“Oh,” I said. “So a big car.”

“Gato...” Tambor said warningly.

“Okay, okay, fine. I'll stop,” I said, letting out a huff of mock irritation.

It's amazing how killing somebody can really improve your previously-foul mood.

“Anyway, which way'd he go?” I asked.

“Why?” Sargo asked.

“I need to apologize,” I replied.

“What for?”

“Because I was insufferable to him for no reason,” I said. “Why else?”

“When were you 'insufferable for no reason'?” Tambor asked, making air quotes.

“Uh, earlier, before what happened in the alley,” I replied. I thought it was obvious.

“Ohhhhhh, okay. Yeah you should probably at least tell him you weren't at him specifically,” Sargo said. “Sometimes I feel blessed I don't have to deal with all your complex emotions; they seem like so much work.”

“You have no idea,” I muttered. “Now, where is he?”

“Found 'im,” Tambor said. He pointed behind me and I turned to follow where he was pointing. I went slack-jawed at what I found.

A Knight XV rolled to a stop next to us, the armored vehicle looking all the world like an assault vehicle, and it even had thin lines that showed compartments existed in the car's frame. Even the paint job was dulled so that it wouldn't shine when exposed to light.

Oh yeah, whoever had customized this had known their stuff.

“Well, didn't know there were Knights in Japan,” Sargo commented. The door opened and Tench stepped onto the ground, a frown on his lips.

“You guys are not going to like this,” he said. My excitement disappeared as the passenger door opened. Nobody appeared for a couple seconds as the door closed. Then a female jackal stepped into view.

“Who're you?” Sargo asked.

“I am Agent Akula of the Japanese branch of the Agency's JTF,” the jackal replied.

“Oh, cool, you speak English,” Sargo commented.

“Of course I speak English. I'm trilingual,” the jackal, Agent Akula, replied. “Japanese, English, and Greek.”

“Why Greek?” Tambor asked.

“Because that's where I'm from,” Akula said. “Or at least, where I was born and raised until I was ten. Then me and my parents moved here.”

“He asked why you spoke Greek, not your life story,” I said irritably. The jackal arched an eyebrow at me.

“You must be Agent Gato,” she commented. “I'd know that annoyance anywhere.”

“I'm sorry, have we met?” I asked, not recognizing the jackal despite knowing I probably should. I rarely, if ever, forget a face or a voice.

“Osaka, thirteen, maybe fourteen years ago; back when you and Isei were first transferred to the plant,” she said. I blinked a couple of times, frowning to myself; she seemed slightly more familiar now, but how did she–

Oh. Oh. So that's how she knew me.

“You and Isei dated,” I said.

“There ya go,” the jackal replied.

“Wait, who's Isei?” Tambor asked, tilting his head.

“Agent Oberon,” both me and Akula replied, simultaneously.

“How is he, anyway? I haven't heard from him since the accident,” Akula said, crossing his arms.

“He didn't make it,” I said. “I'm sorry.”

“It's fine,” the jackal said, waving it off. “I was just wondering.”

“I'm sorry you were not informed,” I said. The jackal just nodded, her silence giving away that she it was not fine like she'd said. I decided to let her get over it on her own, though. It would be best that way.

Tench just turned and climbed back into the Knight, shutting the door. Tambor went around to the passenger side and climbed in there while Sargo climbed into the back. He looked at me and Akula, then shut the door.

A moment passed as me and the jackal just stood there. Finally, she sighed and said, “You know, he said that you would tell me if anything happened to him at the plant.” I blinked, the surprise evident in my expression.

“He didn't inform me that he wanted me to tell you,” I said. “I would have, if I'd known.”

“I know,” Akula replied. “To be honest, I think I knew he didn't make it, but I held out hope since nobody ever confirmed or denied it.”

“Kazuko, listen, I really am sorry,” I said.

“I know, Satō,” Akula replied.

We fell silent once more as she walked over to the Knight and opened the door. She climbed in and I followed her, shutting the door behind me. Tench pulled away from the curb and we drove in silence, the only sound coming from the engine and the occasional other car that honked at us for whatever reason.

After a relatively short drive in the surprisingly light traffic, we pulled into the parking space at the hotel I'd chosen. Tench informed me that the bags were already in one of the rooms, which explained why they weren't in the Knight. I had to wonder whether that meant he had been lugging everybody's luggage around until he had found the vehicle, or it had found him or whatever; if that was the case, I would have to thank him for it.

We found a parking spot relatively quickly. We all piled out of the armored vehicle. As I made to walk towards the entrance, a paw grabbed my wrist. I turned to see that Akula had grabbed me; I tilted my head in curiosity, unsure what she wanted.

“We'll leave you two to it,” Tambor said. He seemed to have some idea of what was going on, or at least an idea of what might be going on. I, on the other hand, was confused as could be.

The other three agents walked towards the entrance, leaving me and Akula alone by the Knight.

“Well?” I prodded.

“Tell me the truth, Gato,” the jackal said. I blinked, not expecting those words. “I know when somebody is holding something back from me. I want the truth.”

“How do I know I can trust you with the truth?” I asked. It was her turn to blink in surprise. “This truth you want is top secret; only me, Director Wolfe, and Director Kai know it. I can't bring you into the fold unless you can prove to me that you are trustworthy.”

“You want to know if I'm trustworthy? Alright, fine,” Akula replied. She reached down and drew a knife from her side, staring me in the eyes as she pulled the sleeve of her shirt up. She gripped the knife tightly by the blade and tugged, blood splattering to the ground. Blood dripped from her paw as she held the knife out to me. I took it, knowing what she was doing, and did the same thing she had done. Our paws clapped together loudly, our gaze never leaving each other's.

After a moment, we released each other. I huffed and said, “Very well. You know what happens if you end up becoming untrustworthy.”

“If it comes to that, I'll put the bullet into my skull myself,” the jackal said. I smiled faintly.

“Okay, you want the truth? Here's the truth.”

And so I told her.


	4. 3. Unexpected Variables

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bit short

The hotel room that we got was, in all honesty, a lot better than I had been expecting. A second room, connected to the first with a door, was ordered by Tambor due to the addition of Agent Akula as well as to better hold both all five of us and the gear we had brought with us.

The female jackal had not spoken to me in the four hours since our conversation next to the Knight XV. I was fine with that; the info I had given her, the orders in regards to keeping it secret, as well as the reasons for the secrecy was a lot to digest for somebody previously out of the loop.

Currently I lay on one of the beds in the second room, tossing a stress ball into the air and catching it with very little variance on the strength behind the toss, the angles of ascent and descent, and almost zero travel away from a straight up and down pattern.

I continued to toss the ball even as the door opened and Agent Akula walked into the room. She barely spared me a glance as she walked over to one of the duffle bags and picked it up, setting it at the foot of the bed and unzipping it.

With a smirk and a sudden mischievous streak, I angled my next throw with expert precision and watched as it bounced off the roof and smacked right into the center of Akula's head. She jerked her gaze up, glaring at me. She picked the ball up off where it had bounced to the bed and threw it at my face. My jaws snapped open and caught the ball. She blinked at the unorthodox catch and I pulled the ball from my mouth. I glanced at it then wiped it off on my chest.

“So, wanna talk?” I asked.

“No,” the jackal replied. She reached into the bag and pulled a couple rifle parts from it. She began to put it together without a word, the rifle quickly taking shape into a McMillan CS5. I arched an eyebrow, knowing that the rifle had some rather poor range compared to some of the other available rifles. It was useful, sure, but at too long a range it would be as useless as a pistol outside of twenty five yards.

“I know what you're thinking,” Akula said. “I'm more than familiar with the rifle's lower range, however...” She looked at me, dead in the eyes and with a smirk. “Tambor and Sargo do not.”

“You pulled their range history,” I accused.

“Nope,” the jackal replied. “I pulled their entire firearm history.”

I arched an eyebrow. “Impressive.”

“Not a single inquiry into this specific rifle, not a single visual, and not a single round fired by them or anybody associated with them.”

“Oh, you're good,” I remarked.

“I take pride in my intelligence gathering skills,” Akula replied. “However, this is all built on speculation, so I've got a better rifle coming in later tomorrow or early the next day.”

“Please tell me it's high powered.”

“Barrett,” Akula said.

“Eighty-Two?” I asked.

“What else?” the jackal asked in response.

“You're gonna make me blush,” I quipped.

“I know how you love your firepower,” Akula said. “Which is why I have eight extra drums for the Two-Four-Nine Tench brought, fifteen magazines for the Barrett that's coming, ten spare magazines for the Heckler and Koch, ten spare mags for Tambor and Sargo's rifles each, and fifteen spare mags for everybody's sidearms all on emergency standby ready to be loaded up and dropped wherever you need them either in a soft landing or hardcase delivery.”

I stared at the jackal, blinking a couple of times as she crossed her arms with a cocky smirk.

“The only way you could be any sexier is if you ordered a Vulcan for the Knight,” I commented after several minutes of shocked staring.

“Weeeeell...”

“...You didn't.”

“I may have requested that the spare Knight be outfitted in the event we need the firepower.”

Holy shit this jackal knew how to get to me.

“I am extremely turned on right now,” I said.

“Yes, I can tell,” Akula said with a chuckle.

A quick glance revealed that yes, yes she could.

“Do you want a moment to yourself?” the jackal asked.

“No, hold on, I got this,” I replied. A moment passed in silence before the situation was finally resolved.

“Well, so much for the highly praised vulpine endurance,” Akula remarked with a snicker.

“Oh, don't worry. I'm sure you'll see where the rumors come from either later tonight or early tomorrow,” I replied.

“So confident,” Akula commented.

“No, I just know Tench.”

“Oh, you two are...”

Now that was interesting.

“Is there an issue?” I asked.

“Uh, no, sorry, I just didn't expect that you and him would be...um...”

“Using each other to stave off our physical needs?” I inquired.

“Wait, you mean you two are just physical?” Akula asked, tilting her head slightly.

“'Course. Already got somebody for everything else,” I replied.

“Do they know about you and Tench?”

“Wouldn't be a good husband if I went sneaking around, now would I?” I asked in reply. Akula blinked at me, shock in her eyes.

“You're married?”

“This surprises you?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

She seemed to realize it was a loaded question and wisely pursued a different subject with a hum of ambiguity and said, “How long?”

“Eight years, going on nine next month,” I replied. “We were gonna have a child, but uh...well, you know how the genetics game goes. Doesn't always work out the way you want.”

“I-”

“Don't say it,” I said. “Don't say that 'I'm sorry' bullshit. I heard it enough times four years ago, I don't want to hear it again.”

“Okay,” Akula replied. “Well, what's your wife's name then?”

“Marianne Masterson,” I replied.

“She didn't change her name?” the jackal asked.

“I'm going to when I either retire or get buried,” I said. “Satō Masterson has a nice ring to it, don't you think?”

“Yes, it does sound rather nice,” Akula said quietly. She picked up the rifle and set it down under the bed, then moved the bag back to where she'd picked it up from. She then sat down on the bed next to me, so I sat up. It would be slightly more easy to talk to her if I did.

I was not, however, expecting the jackal to lean against me. I didn't bolt off the bed like a lot of people I knew would, though I did look at her in surprise and curiosity.

“Sorry if this makes you awkward or anything,” she said. “I just kinda figured you would maybe prefer a bit of physical contact instead of words.”

“Some non-intimate physical contact would be rather nice,” I admitted. “Oh, by the way, are you still mad?”

“Oh, fuck yes I'm still mad.”

“I figured.”


	5. 4. Target(s) Acquired

I sat in the back of the Knight XV, my head leaning back and eyes shut as the engine purred. For such a large vehicle, it was surprisingly quiet. To my right sat Agent Akula; we'd both agreed that it would be best if me and her pretended to be working together. Tench had proposed that we pretend to be a couple, but I knew that that would be a bad idea if I was going to be pulling out all the stops for getting Souta's trust. Luckily, Akula agreed with that train of logic.

In front of me and in the seats with their backs to the Knight's cabin sat mine and Akula's tactical gear, all collected together in a set of duffel bags. Mine was noticeably larger than hers.

Both of us had throat mics and a wireless receiver so that we could hear each other and communicate with Tench, who would stay in the Knight until we were done.

“Hey, time to suit up,” Tench said from up front. I exchanged a glance with Akula, then stood as much as I could and moved to the seat adjacent mine. I set my bag on the floor and dropped to a knee to better stabilize myself. Akula grabbed her bag and moved back towards her seat, her back to me like we'd agreed upon. Both of us would face away from the other unless one of us asked the other for assistance.

We weren't shy, obviously, but neither of us needed unnecessary distractions on our minds.

I tugged off my shirt and pulled a black long sleeve shirt out, quickly pulling it on and adjusting my throat mic. Next came a high-collared vest to hide the throat mic from view. After that came a jacket because it was a little nippy outside.

Apparently, the shirt and vest were supposed to be more bullet resistant than kevlar, but I'd never personally worn either the vest or shirt so I was unsure if that was true. They were essentially prototypes, and prototypes made me nervous.

The jacket, on the other hand, was just a regular sweater.

I sent a quick glance towards Akula and assumed from her frown that she didn't think much of the prototypes either.

I pulled a chest harness from the bag and quickly tightened it around the vest and placed a New Nambu 57 in it, then unzipped the jacket and pulled it on, zipping it up and hiding the holster from view.

“Well, do or die time,” I said. Akula nodded her head in agreement.

“Preferably just 'do',” Tench muttered from up front. I chuckled, then pushed open the door and hopped down, landing on the concrete sidewalk only inches from the Knight's tires.

I stepped away and heard Akula land behind me. Sending a quick glance back and up found me looking at a skyscraper that Tambor and Sargo were setting up on the roof of. They would be looking nearly straight down, but luckily that meant they wouldn't have to adjust for very much distance if they needed to fire the CS5. Hopefully, at least.

With barely a sound me and Agent Akula began approaching the Osaka Grand Front.

  
  


***

  
  


I leaned against a pillar inside the mall's Building 1F. Akula stood two floors above and across a small open courtyard from me, leaning against a railing and scanning the crowd from above. I looked at as many mammals as I could, but there were so many that a fair number slipped past.

It didn't really matter, though. Our target, Souta Takeuchi, wouldn't be in this building yet. He should still be in Building 5F; me and Akula were just biding time until we got a good lock on his location.

The plan, when we found him, was for me to act like I confused him for an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in years. If he did not go along with it, which I doubted he would, then I would apologize profusely and offer to buy him something to eat as compensation for the mistake. If he refused, I would pretend to accept it and leave, then go to the restaurant that he always went to after he was done and order a table for three with a good view of the door. I would call him over and say that there was a third person supposed to meet me and my friend (Akula would fill that role, of course) but they had called and cancelled so we had an empty seat and food already ordered. It would, of course, “coincidentally” be his preferred meal.

Of course, if he went along with the “old friend” act then that would simplify a whole lot of the procedure.

My radio chirped; a quick glance upward showed Akula tilt her head slightly. “Go for Gato,” I said quietly.

“Souta is confirmed in Building 5F; he's currently in the Foxfire store and his pattern has Columbia as his next stop before the stop at the restaurant,” Tench said over the comm. He was out in the parking lot, in the back of the Knight with a computer that was simulating the tod's path and setting up the best place to meet with him for the beginning of the act.

“Understood,” Akula replied before I could. “I'm moving.”

“Sargo, Tambor, report,” I ordered.

“This is Sargo. Me and Tambor are set up on the building overlooking the complex. I can cover the whole place, but with a rifle I've never used before I'm gonna need a little leeway in the event I miscalculate,” was the reply.

“Let's hope you don't miscalculate,” I said. A grunt was the reply. “Akula, stay high if possible, but move to ground if necessary. We'll meet up at the Columbia store.”

“Understood, sir,” was the jackal's response. “I'll see you soon.”

Yes, she would.

  
  


***

  
  


I strolled into the Columbia store and moved over to the vests, tilting my head at them with a hum. I liked the high-collared design and soft material they were made from; probably my favorite brand of clothing to buy, if I was honest.

My feet nearly slipped on the recently-cleaned floor, making me grimace. I hadn't gone without combat boots in forever, so to forego them in the name of remaining discreet made me uncomfortable. Not a whole lot of mammals wore shoes, but I found them to be both comfortable and practical a lot of the time. Especially during heat waves when the concrete was hot enough to burn your paw pads, or when traipsing through the jungle where sticks, rocks, and a bunch of other things could stick through your foot, or just walking through an area in general.

Akula was outside the store on her phone, looking all the world like a distracted tourist.

I knew she probably still resented me for my stern and vocal disapproval of her and Agent Oberon dating twelve years back, when we'd been stationed at the reactor plant for security, but that was in large part due to the fact she had only been nineteen at the time, instead of a dislike of her like she'd seemed to think back then. In actuality, I thought her and Oberon had been good for each other, but the fact she had been nineteen and he thirty had made me a little anxious.

Now here she was, thirty one years old and an agent in the Japanese branch, and a part of the JTF to boot! She'd come a long way from the nineteen year old civilian that had met Oberon when he'd gone out for a new tube of toothpaste, that was for sure.

If she did still resent me for disapproving of their relationship, I wouldn't really blame her. She'd proven time and time again during that period that she could be trusted, but I think I was just reluctant to give Oberon to somebody else after caring for him for several years prior to their meeting.

I hadn't become like a father to the wolf, but we had formed a close bond.

“Guess who,” Akula said in my ear. I didn't turn, but I did smile.

Souta had entered the store.

I pretended that I had finished looking at the vests and turned, my expression neutral. It quickly morphed to surprise when I found Souta standing right there.

“Hello,” the tod said.

“Uh, hi,” I replied. Whelp, time to switch tracks, so to speak. “Do I...know you?”

“I would hope so, considering you're here to speak to me,” Souta said.

“I'm afraid I have no idea what you are referring to,” I replied, playing up the 'confused misidentification' act rather unashamedly. I'd been caught off guard and needed the time it would buy me to come up with a new plan.

“Oh, so you are not Satō Ito, normally known as Agent Gato and married to Marianne Masterson for eight years and ten months?” Souta asked, a small but noticeable cocky smile on his muzzle.

Motherfucker was told to meet us here, that much was obvious, but by who?

After a moment to pretend I was even more confused, I just decided to acknowledge defeat and said, “Alright, who told you to meet me here?”

“I bet you're suspecting your Director Wolfe, or maybe even Director Kai, correct?” Souta asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.

“It wasn't either of them, then?” I asked in reply.

“No,” the tod said. “You know who.”

Ah, so he wanted to play that game then, did he? Fine. It was time to show him just how the game was played.

“Oh, yes of course,” I said. In truth, I did know who he was referring to. I'd nearly forgotten that he existed because he hadn't even emailed me in nearly fifteen years. Not even an annoying 'I'm sorry for your loss' card, text, or email after the accident. “You refer to Kan Kaima.”

“Of course I do,” Souta said. “I must say, I'm amazed you haven't even put two and two together.”

Oh? I was missing something? That was odd.

“I'm afraid I don't understand.”

“Who do you think called for you and the others in the first place?” Souta asked. I blinked, tilting my head in thought.

Now that I thought about it, I never had been told who was ordering the mission. Unless...

Oh, this absolute, smartass cunt.

I barely felt the flash of anger before an idea popped into my head. A small smirk made its way to my muzzle. Souta blinked as I stepped past him. I moved behind him, placing my paws on his shoulders.

“So, if you're the one that requested this mission, that means you knew that Tadasuke would probably be coming for you. In spite of this, you chose to stay in Japan, despite the fact you would be much better protected in America. I gotta ask...” I released his shoulders. “Why is that, hm?”

Without giving him a chance to respond, I turned and walked away, exiting the store. Akula looked up in curiosity, tilting her head. “Something the matter?” she asked.

“Just wait,” I replied. The jackal pocketed her phone and followed me as I walked over to the railing. I leaned against it, staring across the way.

Eventually Souta's tell-tale pawsteps approached from behind. Though Akula turned to look at him, I stayed facing away, knowing that even with his mechanical leg the tod wouldn't be a threat. If he'd run from somebody as inadequately trained as Tadasuke, then that would mean he didn't stand much chance against somebody with much more extensive close quarters combat such as myself.

The faint whirring of servos from Souta's false leg faded as the tod leaned against the railing next to me. “You really wanna know why I didn't leave Japan?” he asked.

“I already know,” I replied. “You want the wolf to come for you, since you know that we would do everything to protect you. You want to see him die. See the blood pool around his body as you stand above him, a false sense of victory only making that crushing feeling worse. You want revenge but you don't even want to imagine that it will feel anything other than good.”

“What else would it feel like?” Souta asked with a snort. I had to hold onto my desire to strike the idiot.

“Empty. Unfulfilling. Maybe exacerbate your guilt at being too weak to save your friends,” I replied. The tod stiffened next to me. “Too weak to save Naoki Takeda.”

I'd expected the tod to react in anger, but as my head snapped to the side from an elbow to the jaw, I realized that Souta wasn't nearly as much a pushover as I had thought. There had been weight, training, behind that blow.

No matter. It was of no importance. If he couldn't take on Tadasuke, then this would be easy.

Akula, ever the smart one, simply backed away from both of us and turned her back, likely to make sure nobody tried to intervene.

I spun with the blow and brought my leg straight into the back of his knee. The tod's leg crumpled and his body went down with it, a gasp of shock escaping him. A few mammals stopped to look at us, their expressions curious, but Akula waved them off with an excuse in Japanese that sounded suspiciously like something about a spat between lovers that turned into a playful game.

Or something like that anyway. I wasn't paying very much attention.

Souta stood with a grumble, dusting his pant leg off. “Alright, so that wasn't my smartest move,” he said.

“No, no it was not,” I replied. “However, I wasn't wrong in my assumptions, was I?”

“...No. You weren't,” Souta said after a moment's hesitation.

“Didn't think so,” I replied. “I am curious, though, about how you think this will go down. Our mission is to protect you until either Tadasuke backs off or is eliminated, whichever comes first. So how do you plan to make sure it's the latter outcome?”

“By doing the exact opposite of what I should be doing,” Souta said.

“Which is?”

“Keeping myself inside with a veritable division of armed guards surrounding my home and the best electronic and manual security measures that money can buy,” the tod replied, as if that was the obvious answer. “Duh.”

Well, at least he wasn't underestimating the threat that Tadasuke would present without me and the others here.

  
  


***

  
  


I sat on a bench in the middle of a courtyard in Building 3F, one leg crossed over the other as I sat there patiently, head leaning back and eyes closed. Akula and Souta were off getting a quick snack and drinks, we were going to eat those snacks and drink those beverages, and then we would leave. Tench had already called the hotel to tell them that they would be cancelling their stay, reassuring them that it had nothing to do with the quality of the room or their service and was instead an issue of space and monetary limitations.

In plain English, we didn't have enough room and couldn't afford a bigger room at the hotel.

Tambor and Sargo were still on the room of the skyscraper next to the mall, keeping an eye out for anybody that may or may not be a possible threat. If they found one, they were to eliminate it in any means necessary, but do so quietly and, preferably, where somebody wouldn't see or find the enemy combatant until they were long gone.

I opened my eyes as the sound of two pairs of pawsteps approached me, looking into my peripheral vision to see Souta and Akula walking up. The tod carried three bags while the jackal carried a cup holder with three drinks.

Did they seriously get sushi and coffee? Oh, something told me that was not going to mix well.

  
  


***

  
  


As it turns out, sushi and coffee actually mixed surprisingly well. Who would've thought.

After eating, the three of us sat there for several long moments in silence. If I was being honest, that was probably the best sushi I had ever eaten, and I'd eaten plenty of it both here and back in the states. Of course, it'd been thirteen years since I'd been here to Japan, and the sushi in America, while really good at the high end places, really didn't hold a candle to the sushi I had just eaten.

Judging by the groans from Akula and Souta, it'd ben a while since they'd had such good sushi too.

“So,” I began, “I assume you have a place for us to go that can adequately store us and our equipment?”

“All of that, and more,” Souta replied. “You Agency people are gonna love it.”

“Don't make a girl a promise,” Akula said.

“If you know you can't keep it,” I said, finishing the quote.

“Oh, I can keep it,” Souta said. His voice held amusement, most likely at mine and Akula's usage of the quote.

“Oh, now you're just dooming yourself by building up our expectations,” Akula commented.

“Trust me, Agent Akula, you won't be expecting the place.”

“We'll see,” was the jackal's reply.

Silence took hold over us for a couple moments longer before I became aware of a need. I stood, said, “Gonna use the bathroom; go ahead and meet up with the others outside,” and began walking.

  
  


***

  
  


I shut the faucet off and shook my paws off, then ran them under the dryer mounted on the wall. It kicked on almost as soon as my paws went under it, the sound filling the bathroom. A moment passed and I pulled my paws away, the dryer taking a couple seconds to switch off. I let out a huff.

“Agent Gato,” a voice said from the entrance to the bathroom. I stiffened, knowing fully well who the voice belonged to. I'd heard it enough to recognize it immediately.

“Tadasuke,” I said in reply. I raised my paw to my chest and under the sweater, as if scratching an itch. As my paw came out from under it with the New Nambu 57, I spun as fast as I could. It seemed the wolf had expected the action however, because he was right there when I turned.

His paw smacked into my wrist, stopping me from bringing my pistol around and shooting him. The hard collision also served the purpose of loosening my grip on the gun, which it did rather well. The wolf knocked the pistol from my grip with a downward chop, then sent it skidding away and into the wall with a kick.

I spun the other way, bringing my elbow back as hard as I could. The wolf ducked under it and sent a hard jab into my chest, knocking the air from me. I gasped and stumbled back, giving the larger canid all the opening he needed.

Tadasuke rushed forward and grabbed my wrist, his other paw moving to the back of my neck, and spun me around. He slammed me into the wall and bent my arm behind my back, making me wince and let out a grunt of pain.

Christ, he'd gotten good since our last encounter. A lot better. He was even using his feet to keep mine pinned by pressing up against me.

“Alright, now that that's out of the way, I think we can get on with the...” Tadasuke trailed off, his muzzle coming up right next to my ear. “Activities.”

Okay, he did not mean what my mind immediately went to, I knew that much, but I still had to voice my thoughts. “Could you maybe say that in a way that doesn't sound like you're about to rape me or something?

“Hm?” Tadasuke asked. “Oh, yes, my apologies. Sorry. That sounded a lot better in my head.”

“I bet,” I muttered. “Alright, fine, what do you want, Hagiwara?”

“I know why you're here, Gato. I know who you're doing it for. Leave now, and I won't chase you,” the wolf said. I grimaced.

“Yeah, not gonna happen,” I said.

A humph was all that came from the larger canid for a moment. Finally, he said, “A pity. I was hoping to extend this little game of ours a couple years longer.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” I said, managing to bring a foot free from the wolf. I brought it up and back, tugging on the back of his knee. He fell with a grunt of surprise and I went with him.

The wolf brought his legs up and between us, feet digging into my back. He released my wrist and pushed as he rolled back, launching me further into the bathroom. I brought my hands up to catch my fall, sliding back and landing on my feet. I raised my paws to a defensive position, only to find the wolf was already gone.

Damn.


	6. 5. Headquarters Established

I sat in the back of the Knight as it rumbled, the vehicle at a standstill for the moment. We were pulled up next to the curb outside a small little noddle shop because Sargo had needed to go. Nobody had commented on the fact he probably could have just went off the edge of the building and nobody would have seen it.

I hadn't told anybody about my encounter with Tadasuke in the bathroom; I was going to wait until I was certain as to what he was referring to with the word “activities”. Suspicions automatically went to a long, drawn out engagement over the course of several days of cat and mouse chases and escapes. That was his standard operating procedure, at least. Wear the enemy out and wait until they were too resource starved or tired (whichever came first) to mount a credible defense against a hardcore, large scale assault.

To make matters worse, he _always_ had somebody on the inside. Every time except once, anyway. The one time he hadn't had somebody on the inside was during his escape from the CEZ facility.

There was always the chance that he would go about a different way of trying to win, however. For all I knew he was just here to scare us and Souta without any intention of actually harming anybody. It was unlikely, but a possibility.

A huff from my right told me that a certain somebody was unhappy with something.

“Something wrong, Agent Akula?” I asked.

“No, not really,” the jackal replied. “Just kinda nervous about when Tadasuke will show up.”

“Probably tonight or tomorrow, if I had to guess. First he'll probe our defenses, see what we can do. Second comes an infiltration to see how far he can get alone. Third he'll try a real attack by himself using what he learned from the infiltration. Finally comes an assault by whoever he can hire or otherwise persuade to join him.” Akula arched an eyebrow at me. “What?”

“How do you know so much about his SOP?” she asked.

“'SOP'?” Souta asked.

“Standard Operating Procedure,” I replied. “To answer Akula's question, it's because I've gone against him before. More than once.”

“And last time resulted in a capture that nearly ended in your death,” Akula said. “I've read your file.”

“In my defense, I was under equipped and way, _way_ outnumbered,” I said.

“You were still captured and almost killed,” Akula replied.

“Which was in direct opposition to Tadasuke's orders, I might add, the 'almost killed' part,” I argued. “He didn't want me touched, but, as it turns out, not everybody can handle my sense of humor.”

“Really? I can't imagine why,” Akula said with obvious sarcasm. I rolled my eyes.

“You two argue like a couple, you know that?” Souta remarked.

“Oh please,” I said, snorting. “Like I'd go for her.”

“Besides, I ain't even interested in him. Not to mention the fact I'm not going anywhere _near_ a married man,” Akula said.

There was silence for a long moment. I inhaled sharply but quietly and Souta blinked in surprise.

“You're married?” the tod finally said. I sighed.

“Almost eleven years,” I replied.

“You aren't wearing-”

“I know,” I said. “We agreed that rings were unnecessary, not to mention they don't have any benefits in combat.”

“So you don't have any?” Souta asked.

“We have some, but we only wear them when we're together,” I said. “Well, I only wear mine when we're together. I don't know about her.”

“You got kits?” Souta asked. A rather natural question. Still, I heard Akula take in a hiss of air.

“Almost,” I said.

“'Almost'?” Souta repeated, confusion in his voice.

“We almost had one,” I explained. Still the tod seemed confused for a long moment before his eyes widened in understanding and horror.

“Oh. Oh God, Gato, I'm-”

“I'd stop there,” Akula said.

“Huh?”

“I'm sick and tired of hearing that 'I'm sorry' shit,” I said. “It's annoying.”

“Oh, uh, okay,” Souta said. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“So, where's this place we're staying?” Tench asked from up front. When Souta didn't react I realized it'd been said into the comms.

“Tench asked where the place we're staying is,” I said.

“Ah, right,” the fox said. He gave me the location and I relayed it to the water monitor up front, who hummed in reply.

Silence, save for the Knight's engine, settled over us until the door opened and Sargo climbed in. He sat down and banged a fist on the small glass window between us and the cabin to let Tench know he could drive. The armored vehicle pulled away from the curb.

“So, I miss anything?” Sargo asked, looking between Souta, Akula, and myself.

“No,” all three of us answered simultaneously. Sargo arched an eyebrow but said nothing, just turning and looking out the window.

 

 

*******

 

 

The Knight pulled up to what looked like a full-on _compound_. Walls surrounded the building with both barbed wire and hooked spikes making infiltration nigh impossible without some serious tools. A reinforced gate that blended in with the wall nearly perfectly, even having the same defensive measures as the concrete. I was certain there were other defensive measures that I couldn't see.

“Holy shit,” Akula whispered as she looked out the window. “This is almost as secure as the Agency's main building.”

“I put a lot of effort into this place's security, Agent Akula. There are biometric measures, carbon dioxide measures, video measures, voice measures, even height measures, all feeding into a system that was hand crafted to fulfill all of those functions and more. So believe me when I say that we are _secure_ in this place,” Souta said. “I take the threat posed by Tadasuke Hagiwara _very_ seriously.”

“Really? That why you spend almost all your time in public?” Sargo asked.

“It's called building a foundation, Agent Sargo,” the tod replied. I leaned forward, curiosity piqued. “Nobody's gonna notice if a recluse that barely leaves his home stops showing up. They'll figure he finally lost it and won't show up in public, and they'll forget about it. However, when somebody who's built a clockwork-like schedule and friends at a large number of locations goes missing, people take notice. They care. They call the police, and they search for the missing person.”

“You've thought this through quite a lot,” I commented.

“Of course I have, Gato,” Souta replied. “I'm not normally a betting man, I'm even terrible when it comes to math, but even I know the odds are in my favor by doing everything I have been doing.”

“God help us if you ever turn to the dark side,” Sargo muttered. Souta chuckled.

The Knight pulled up to the gate and Souta opened the door, climbing out and walking up to a scanner. I bent over in front of it, pressing a paw on a panel. He turned his head slightly, then turned it back after a few seconds and opened his muzzle. His chest deflated slightly, giving away the fact he'd exhaled. Then he grimaced, as if in pain, and pulled away from the scanner after a few seconds and wiping his paw off on his shirt. He climbed back into the Knight as the gate opened and Tench drove in.

“So, besides all those fancy toys you mentioned earlier, what else does this place got?” I asked.

“Oh, lots of stuff. Facial recognition, disturbances in the buildings' density, air disturbances, and a few other toys that you have to see to believe,” the tod said. “Like I said, I take the threat that Tadasuke poses seriously.”

“'Air disturbances'?” Sargo asked, looking confused.

“You seen the original Alien?” Souta asked.

“Of course.”

“Okay, you remember how Ash told the crew of the Nostromo that the jury rigged motion detectors detected shifts and disturbances in the air molecules of the ship?”

“Yeah...”

“Works kinda like that.”

“Well, that's pretty neat.”

“I imagine it's also very difficult,” I said.

“Oh, you've no clue,” Souta said with a chuckle. “It would've been easier _and_ cheaper to just hire a PMC to guard me and my place.”

“Except they can be bought if the other side pays enough,” Akula commented.

“Which is why I went with this method,” Souta said as the Knight came to a halt. The engine cut, indicating we were parked, and Souta stood from his seat as far as the roof would allow and opened the door. He climbed down and we followed.

The inside of the compound was even more impressive than I'd expected, and by the reactions of the other agents, the same could be said for them.

“Holy fucking shit,” Akula said as she stared at the three buildings that made up the inside of the walls.

“That right there is the training building,” Souta said as he pointed to the left most structure. “It offers state of the art work out machines, a gun range with sound dampening walls, and a couple sparring rings.

The building on the right is the sleeping quarters for the various guards and other personnel that maintain the security and faculties of the compound. It is, as you can see, smaller than the others. This is because we need, at minimum, no more than thirty people to run the place. Twenty of those people are guards and the rest are...caretakers, so to speak.”

“'So to speak'?” Tench repeated.

“The middle building,” Souta continued, as if the water monitor hadn't spoken, “is the housing area. It's where I and any guests that I have stay. For now, it's largely empty space. A few bedrooms, bathrooms, a dining area, and a kitchen. Oh, and a living room, of course.”

“Aren't the dining rooms usually the same as the kitchens in Japanese homes?” Sargo asked.

“Foot, meet mouth,” I muttered to myself.

“I would be careful on what you assume, Agent Sargo,” Souta replied dryly. “Though for the most part, yes, you are correct. However, I took a liking to the layout when I was staying at the facility in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone a year ago. So, therefore, I incorporated it into the design for the main building when I started designing this place.”

“Uh, what? The CEZ?” Tambor asked, tilting his head.

“Yes, that is what I said. As for the why, which you were undoubtably about to ask... quite frankly, I haven't the faintest idea. I was in charge of the place, sure, but I was not privy to the info pertaining as to why it was built there instead somewhere remote here in Japan, or even on an island nearby,” Souta said. “And besides, I wouldn't tell you even if I knew. Probably a state secret or something.”

“Gato, you know why they built a facility in the CEZ?” Tench asked.

“Don't look at me. I haven't been to this country in twelve years,” I said. “Not to mention I've been basically ignoring any news regarding this place.”

“Not very patriotic of you, Agent Gato,” Souta remarked.

“Fuck patriotism,” I replied. “This country ain't ever done anything good for me besides give me a place to be born. Besides that, all it's done is take and take without reprieve, hesitation, discretion, or remorse. So I think I have a pretty legitimate reason to say this country could sink into the goddamn ocean for all I care.”

“Preferably with you safely on the other side of the globe, I imagine,” Souta remarked.

“I'd settle for a couple thousand feet above it,” I replied.

There was silence for a moment as the other agents exchanged looks, then looked between me and Souta. I had a suspicion they were expecting some kind of argument.

After the moment passed, Souta smiled, though faintly. “I think you and an old friend of mine would have gotten along perfectly,” he said.

“Perhaps,” I replied. “Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to store our equipment so we can get settled in.”

“Of course, of course,” Souta said. He turned and began walking towards the middle building. “I'll have one of the caretakers bring any baggage you are unable to bring yourselves.”

The tod walked away, leaving us agents standing next to the Knight in silence. After a couple seconds, Tench, Tambor, and Sargo opened the doors and began pulling out bags. Me and Akula stood next to each other, our gazes firmly on the retreating form of the fox.

“There's something odd about that fox,” Akula said after a moment.

“Yes, but it's not our problem yet. And until it is, we are not going to worry about it. Understood?” I asked, glancing at her.

“Transparently,” Akula replied. We both turned and helped the others sort the bags as much as we could.

 

 

*******

 

 

I set my bag down with a huff, Akula doing the same a couple feet away. Apparently, Souta was either aware of mine and Tench's relationship, or he just thought that me and Akula would be less likely to do anything.

I wasn't sure which one was right, to be honest. Sure, I wouldn't do anything with anybody unless they started it, and I _highly_ doubted Akula would do something like that, but considering I was one to consider every possibility, it was certainly something I had imagined happening.

It wasn't all that pleasant to imagine.

Not to say that Akula isn't a beautiful vixen, she is, but she also isn't really my type.

“Hey, Gato.” I turned to look at the vixen, my ears perking up and head tilting in curiosity. “I know you said that we shouldn't worry about it until it becomes a problem, but...”

“We are not going to snoop, Akula. We are guests in his home, not to mention our mission is to _protect_ him, not snoop around his personal business,” I said. “Besides, after what happened to him a year ago, I'm impressed he isn't more...what was the word you used again?”

“Odd,” Akula replied.

“Yeah, I'm impressed he isn't more odd.”

“Still, I can't help but feel there's something off about him,” the jackal said. I sighed, knowing what she was talking about; I felt the same way. Souta wasn't giving us the whole truth, and when on a mission as important as this, not having all the intel, even something as minuscule as when somebody does something that's seemingly meaningless, could mean the difference between success and failure.

And failure was absolutely _not_ an option.

I suddenly blinked as I realized something. “How did he know that Tadasuke would be coming for him _now_ of all times? He easily could have gone after Souta at any other point in time, even when you factor in the recovery period between when he was shot and now. Yet Souta was confident enough in the idea that Tadasuke was coming _now_ to request _us_ as his protectors. Why is that?”

“You think that Souta's in with Tadasuke?”

“No, no of course not, but he's obviously in with _somebody_ that knew when Tadasuke was coming,” I said, waving my paw to dismiss the idea. I kept it on the table for myself, the only reason I had dismissed it verbally being the fact I didn't want Akula to worry about it.

“Perhaps Kan Kaima told him,” Akula said.

“That's also possible,” I responded. It actually was highly possible that Kaima had found the wolf with his almost preternatural people-finding skills.

I wasn't sure if there was an actual word for those specific skills, so I just referred to them as people-finding skills. Ten points to Gryffindor for originality, eh?

“Would it surprise you if Kaima actually did know ahead of time and informed Souta?” Akula asked curiously.

“Not really,” I replied. “He's almost never wrong.”

“'Almost'?” Akula questioned.

“Well, there was an incident in ninety eight...” I said.

Almost a full minute passed before Akula finally said, “You're not going to elaborate, are you?”

“No,” I replied.

“Why?”

“Not my place to do so.”

“Will he elaborate?”

“Unlikely.”

“But possible?”

“Perhaps.”

“Should I ask?”

“Perhaps wait until the mission's over.”

Akula sighed and said, “Ugh, fine,” then went back to unpacking her own duffel bag. I turned at the sound of footsteps, blinking when I saw Tench standing in the doorway, a duffel bag hanging from each shoulder.

“Something came for you two,” he said, shrugging a bag off his shoulder. He tossed it towards me and I barely caught it, but when I did and I felt the weight of the contents, I smiled faintly.

“Thank you, Tench,” I said. The water monitor dipped his head, shrugged off the other bag and tossed it to Akula (the jackal was nearly knocked to the ground when she caught it), then turned and walked away.

“What's in these bags?” Akula muttered to herself.

“Some advanced stuff that the techies back at the American branch have been working on,” I replied as I set my bag down. I unzipped it and pulled out the first piece, a bodysuit.

“Really?” Akula muttered.

“It's to prevent chafing, or something,” I replied.

“'Or something'?”

“Yes.”

“...Alrighty then,” Akula said.

I cleared my throat and indicated for her to open her bag, which she did. She pulled a similar body suit out, frowning as she looked at me. I turned and walked over to the door, shutting it and glancing at the keypad next to it. There were several buttons on it and a screen above them, each button labeled in Japanese.

How lucky that both Akula and I were native speakers.

I read a couple of the buttons, then tapped the one that said 'hologram'. The screen turned on and displayed several options. I chose the one that said 'separating wall'. I turned to see a wall appear between my side of Akula's, so I went over to my bed.

I stripped and pulled on the body suit, grimacing (I mentally noted I did that a lot recently) at the snug fit but knowing it to be necessary.

When I got it completely on I turned and approached the wall. I prayed that doing what I was about to do wouldn't disengage it, because that would be awkward if Akula wasn't as finished as I was, then stuck my arm through and gave a thumbs up. The wall shimmered but remained.

A couple seconds later Akula's paw stuck through next to mine, a thumbs up formed. I retracted my paw and walked over to the screen, deactivating the hologram. I turned to see Akula wearing her bodysuit with a grimace.

I walked back over to the bag and pulled what looked like a pair of multi-layered forearm guards out. I smirked at Akula and placed one on. I secured it, hoped it didn't backfire, then pressed a button on the side.

Immediately the bracer extended to the sides, linking up on the underside of my forearm as the layered plates began extending up my arm. It went up to my shoulder, coming to a stop and linking together under my armpit. The other bracer did the same when I secured it.

“Whoa,” Akula said. She pulled the bracers out. She slipped them on, then watched in fascination as they traveled up her arm, linking together with barely a sound. A huff of amazement escaped her. “This...this is...” She could barely even find the words to describe it, which made me chuckle.

“Oh, it gets better,” I said as I reached down and pulled a pair of black combat gloves from my bag. They were a tight fit, though not uncomfortably so, which I was grateful for. Next came a pair of shin guards.

I secured the shin guards and pressed a button in the side, watching as they extended up my legs and came to rest a little snugly between where my legs met my pelvis. I grimaced slightly, knowing that may be a problem later on.

Akula copied me, letting out a small laugh as she did so.

“And now for the best part,” I said as I pulled the final piece out: a chest plate with two bulky parts on the back of the neck and under where the jaw would rest. I lifted it up and slid it over my head, pulling it down and shaking my head when, after some tugging, it finally went through the hole for my head. I glanced at Akula, who was busy trying to tug hers on. I went over and helped her, the jackal huffing when she finally got it on.

“Does it have to be so tight?” she asked.

“There's a reason for the tightness,” I relied. Akula tilted her head in curiosity before a hissing sound filled the room. Then there was a clanking as the leg and arm pieces extended once more and locked to the body piece. Akula blinked.

“Oh,” she said after a moment. “Well, I suppose that makes sense.”

“Oh it gets cooler,” I said.

“How can this get cooler?” she asked. I gestured to the blocky objects on the underside of her jaw and the back of her neck.

“There's a tiny little button in the center of your neck, just under the block on the back. Touch it,” I instructed. Akula reached up and felt around, then finally found it. She pressed it and immediately the blocks unfolded, extending around her head and meeting up at her jaws to form a helmet. I followed suit.

“Oh. My. God!” Akula exclaimed, pure, childlike joy in her voice. A giddy laugh escaped her as she launched herself at me. I barely had time to react before she had me wrapped in a hug and was spinning me around. “This is the coolest thing ever!”

“It gets better,” I managed to grumble out between suppressing the urges to either laugh as well or vomit. The jackal could spin.

I was dropped as Akula backed away, holding up a paw and extending a finger. “Don't. Don't tease me like that,” she said.

“Okay, well, it's _supposed_ to get better,” I corrected. “Supposedly, the entire suit is ten times better than kevlar.”

“I don't know if I like that 'supposedly',” Akula commented.

“They're tested, obviously, but not in the field,” I replied. “This will be their first field use, so try to avoid getting shot, just in case.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Akula muttered. She looked around. “So how do we take it off?”

“Same way you put it on,” I said, reaching up behind my neck and tapping the button that lay there. My mask unfolded. “However, I'll be keeping mine on as much as possible. Less hassle that way.”

“You're gonna sleep in that thing?” Akula asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Just until Tadasuke's first attempt to get in,” I replied. “He'll wait before he tries a solo assault, then two more days until he tries a full assault unless he either succeeds or we take him down during one of the other attempts.”

“But we don't know when he'll attempt an infiltration,” Akula argued.

“Exactly,” I replied. Akula blinked, as if confused, before realization dawned in her eyes.

“Ah,” she said.

“'Ah' indeed,” I said. “Could be tonight, could be tomorrow night, could be never. We don't know.”

“'Never'?” Akula questioned.

“Tadasuke being in Osaka could easily be a coincidence. It's entirely possible he isn't even aware Souta's here,” I explained. “Our being here is just a precaution in case he _is_ after Souta.”

“So we're basically just deterrents,” Akula said.

“More or less, yes,” I confirmed. “But we'll also serve as combatants in the event of an attack, expected to defend and retaliate as Souta sees fit.”

“Deterrent mercenaries, then,” Akula said.

“Except we're not getting paid,” I replied. “Well, we are, but we're being paid our standard salary instead of for our mission.”

Akula hummed in thought, though remained silent. My gaze shifted down and to the right when a small blink of light caught my eyes. I reached up ad pressed the button on the back of my neck, the helmet folding into place. The light was the helmet's comms.

“Go for Gato” I said.

 _“Gato, it's Tench. Souta just came by and said dinner's being served soon. Might be paying you a visit soon,”_ the water monitor warned.

“Understood. Thanks for the heads up,” I replied. I cut the call and unfolded the helmet, shaking my head when it completed. “Akula, Souta might be stopping by soon. Might want to hold up on getting-”

I cut myself off in shock when I found that Akula had already gotten the armor off and was pulling the bodysuit off. We stared at each other, blinking a couple times in surprise. I finally just turned away and waved my hand to indicate she could continue if she wished. A couple moments later a tap on my shoulder made me turn. Akula stood there, fully dressed now, and I just cleared my throat awkwardly and nodded hello. She nodded back.

The door opened suddenly, Souta sticking his head in. “Hey, dinner's gonna be served in a couple minutes and- ...what in God's name are you wearing, Agent Gato?”

“The techies back home made this recently,” I explained. “It's a full-body suit of highly bullet resistant material, with each individual limb rated against different calibers. For example, the legs are rated against pistol rounds, arms for rifle rounds, body for high caliber rifles, and head is rated for sniper rifles. Apparently the helmet is really finicky when it comes to fifty BMG, though. Sometimes it protects, sometimes it doesn't.”

“Oh, well, okay then,” Souta said. He stood there for a long moment before finally nodding and disappearing, the sound of his fading footsteps audible for a couple seconds.

I looked to Akula and said, “After you,” while gesturing towards the door.

“So charming,” the jackal replied jokingly. I chuckled.

We walked from the room and towards where we assumed where the dining room would be, more or less just going by our knowledge of standard Japanese house layouts. Granted, this was not a standard Japanese house by any means, but the assumption that it would have a similar layout was proven at least partially correct when we found the dining room right where we thought it would be located.

“Ah, Gato, Akula, nice of you to join us,” Souta said cheerfully as we sat down.

“You kidding? Gato wouldn't miss dinner for World War Three,” Tench said with a chuckle. Tambor and Sargo laughed at the joke while I merely rolled my eyes.

I did mutter, “That's true,” however.

“Well, anyway, what're we having?” Sargo asked curiously.

In response, Souta held up a paw and extended one finger to indicate 'hold on, need a moment,' then pulled a phone from a pocket when it started to ring. He answered it, listened for a moment, then said, “Yeah, just bring it in,” and hung up.

We waited, my head tilted in curiosity. Eventually, the door opened and a mammal walked in carrying three different pizza boxes.

“Wait what?” Tambor said, blinking in confusion. I suspected he'd thought that we would be eating something that one thought of when they imagined Japanese food, like sushi, or maybe ramen. Pizza – Papa John's according to the Japanese symbols on the box – was not one of them.

“I figured, as mostly American agents, you would appreciate a American food,” Souta explained as the boxes were set down on the table. The mammal bowed, then turned and left.

“I'm Australian though,” Tench said quietly; really, it was more like a mumble. “Also, pizza is Italian.” Those words were equally quiet.

 

In reality, out of the entire group of five agents that were assigned to the mission, only Tambor and Sargo were Americans. Didn't mean us other three non-Americans couldn't enjoy some nice American food, though. In fact, me and Tench liked American foods more than Sargo and Tambor did, which for some reason almost everybody else at the American branch that was actually American (a solid fifteen agents out of fifty seven total) found odd.

I wasn't really sure why.

“What'd you order?” Sargo asked, dipping his head to the boxes to indicate he meant the type of pizza.

“Pepperoni, cheese, and a half-and-half,” Souta replied. “I wasn't sure what toppings you liked so I just got the standard two.”

“Should be fine,” I said, knowing that Tench, Tambor and Sargo all liked just plain pizza. Personally I preferred pepperoni, but that was just my preference.

“Yeah, that's fine,” Akula said, right as I was about to turn and ask her. Souta nodded and clapped his paws together excitedly.

“Well then, let's eat!”

 


	7. 6. Combatant Verified

I jolted awake at the sound of jogging approaching the door to the room I shared with Akula. I jerked up and swung my legs off the bed, reaching up and pressing the button on the back of my neck. My helmet folded into place and almost immediately the visor tinted green. I was quick to realize the helmet had a night vision mode, which would be incredibly helpful.

I rushed over and placed my back against the wall next to the door, ready in case it was an enemy. The likelihood of it being so was highly low, but you could never be too careful on a mission.

The door opened and a mammal dressed in BDUs rushed inside. I didn't hesitate to wrap my arms around his throat from behind, clamping his jaws shut with my free hand.

“Name,” I whispered, the helmet's speaker system portraying it as a whisper as well. I would have to give the techies that designed the outfit my thanks.

“Kei,” the mammal, an arctic fox tod, grunted out quietly. “I work for Souta as a guard.”

“Apologies,” I said as I released the tod. “I was expecting an enemy combatant to enter.”

“No problem,” Kei said. “However, there is a combatant. Or something, anyway. Delta One and Delta Six aren't reporting in. Souta said to rouse you agents in case it was Tadasuke.”

“Understood. You go see if you can find your silent companions; I'll rouse Akula,” I said. Kei nodded, then turned and rushed out of the room and down the hall.

I hurried over to Akula's bed, shaking the jackal roughly. The reaction was instantaneous; a paw came up and towards my head. I blocked it and deactivated my helmet. “Kazuko, it's me. Get up and get in your armor,” I said. The jackal stopped, a grunt coming from her after a moment. I released her and reactivated my helmet as I turned away, crossing my arms as I waited for her to change into her armor.

Not even a minute later a tap on my shoulder signalled that either she was done or she was about to slap me for some reason. I braced myself for the latter and turned to find her with her helmet in place.

“I'm ready,” she said.

“Good,” I replied. I turned and ran from the room, the jackal following me. The lights inside the building were off, like one would expect, but not in the _way_ one would expect. A building of this size and with such complex defense measures would need a lot of electricity. My fur had been standing on end from the residual static that filled the building all day, and when I'd woken up it was flat. That meant that the power had been cut or otherwise disabled, at least enough to dampen the static to the point it didn't affect me.

I stopped by a room I knew to be empty and pushed open the door, trying the light switch just to be positive. Sure enough, the lights remained off, indicating that the power had indeed been cut. Akula tilted her head when I exited, clearly curious, and I explained the situation.

“Oh, he's good,” the jackal muttered.

“Indeed,” I replied. “Let's go see if we can find him.”

Akula nodded in reply, turning to walk down the hall only to catch a body to the chest. She tumbled back, falling to the ground with a yelp of surprise. I turned to see an armored wolf wearing an outfit similar to mine in design standing a couple feet away.

“Tadasuke,” I growled. I raised my paws and rushed him, sending several fast, precise jabs towards his midsection. He blocked and dodged them with ease, showcasing his developed skills in terms of CQC, and I responded with a kick towards his side.

He blocked it with a forearm, then hurriedly lifted and rotated his arm so he was holding my leg. I grunted and jumped with my other leg, sending a hard kick into the side of his mask. His head jerked to the side and he released my leg. I caught myself as I came down, flipping over and then rolling backwards.

I came up with my arms raised defensively, Akula coming to stand beside me. Tadasuke glanced between both of us, then rushed forward.

His first blow connected with Akula's side, making her grunt, before he sent a jab into the side of my leg. I turned with the blow, dropping to my knee and sending a sweep towards his foot. He dodged and shoved Akula to the side, her impact with the wall audible.

I retracted my leg before he could attempt to stomp on it, but I was unable to dodge the knee to the jaws of my mask as I turned to face him. I fell backwards against the wall.

The familiar sound of a shotgun racking made Tadasuke turn. I followed his gaze to see Tench pointing a SPAS 15 at the wolf. He fired right as Tadasuke raised his arms to protect his head and leaned back slightly. Dust fell from the roof above and several feet behind Tadasuke, prompting me to assume Tench had fired a slug.

Tadasuke rushed forward before Tench could process that the wolf's armor was just as bullet resistant as ours and spun, sending a harsh kick straight into the water monitor's midsection. He jumped into the air as he spun, sending a kick with his other leg into the barrel of the shotgun and knocking it from Tench's grip.

Me and Akula stood at the same time and quickly rushed the wolf. He turned as we did so and rushed towards us as well. He shifted to the right and jumped into the air, turning as he did so. His upper body slammed into Akula's as his feet made contact with the wall. I turned as he used the wall to keep Akula upright while also rotating around her and sending a kick into my helmet. I stumbled to the side as he came down, lifting Akula as he did so and throwing her into the wall.

Tench came from behind him and sent an uppercut towards the wolf's head. Tadasuke leaned back to avoid it, then leaned forward and sent a hard punch straight into the center of the water monitor's chest. The sound of a rib cracking filled the room as Tench stumbled back, gasping as he fell to the ground.

Sargo and Tambor ran past me and Akula, the lynx leaping into the air while the coywolf dropped to all fours when they approached Tadasuke. It was a standard tag team approach taught to all agent trainees. Unfortunately, that meant Tadasuke would likely have a counter for it.

I was proven right when the wolf grabbed the faster Sargo by the throat as he came at him and slammed him down into the charging Tambor, dodging to the side as he did. The duo slid rumbled past him, a tangle of limbs and groans of pain.

Okay, a bit of an unorthodox counter, but a counter nonetheless.

I stood slowly, my head pounding from getting thrown around so much. Akula tried to stand, but I could tell she was much too sore to be doing that for a couple minutes at least.

Tadasuke turned to face me, his mask impassive; I knew, however, that he was probably either making an impressed look or an annoyed one under it, depending on his current mood. Funny how chasing and trying to kill somebody made you know them better than some of your own friends.

“I'm disappointed, Gato,” Tadasuke said. “I expected better of both you _and_ the Agency. Seems their standards have gotten lower since my time.”

There were a couple noises of shock and outcries of “What!?” following his statement.

“Actually, the training regime has gotten a lot _better_ since then. You've just outpaced it,” I replied. “To be expected, considering who trained you.”

“Yes, you were an excellent teacher,” Tadasuke said. We rushed each other.

I ducked down under a swing, spinning as I came up behind Tadasuke and grabbing a plate on the back of his suit. I swung him around and into the wall; he saw it coming and jumped, leaning back as he did so and performing a wallflip. I was forced to release my hold lest he spin my arm too far.

I spun as he came down, the wolf unable to dodge the kick I sent into the jawline of his mask. His head snapped back and he stumbled away, a growl coming from him. I was all too happy to respond with my own growl.

I heard the sound of shuffling pawsteps behind me, signaling that at least two of my fellow agents had stood. I risked a look behind me to see Tambor and Akula standing, though they looked a little unsteady. I turned back around and received a punch to the forehead for my troubles.

Akula and Tambor came to stand at my sides, their paws raised in defensive positions. I raised my own in offensive positions, looking between both of them. We exchanged nods, then faced Tadasuke.

“We need to get to the armory,” I said into the comms.

“Agreed. Should we bait and switch?” Akula asked.

“Seems as good an idea as any,” I replied. Grunts of agreement came from both of them.

“Gato! Catch!” Tench called from behind me. I turned to see him throw a combat knife. I raised my paw quickly and caught it, the handle smacking into my glove a feeling I had sorely missed. I smirked under my mask as I turned back to Tadasuke, only for it to turn into a grimace of anger when he drew his own knife from the small of his back.

Tambor and Akula backed away, then turned and sprinted the way Akula and I had come from. I heard Tench follow them. Probably not smart with his injured rib, but oh well.

Tadasuke began to take several short, quick steps forward, then one step back in an attempt to bait me. I responded by doing the exact same thing. When we got close enough we began to circle. I raised my hands a couple inches higher and ducked my head slightly, posture slipping from offensive to defensive as Tadasuke took several steps forward in rapid succession and stopped within striking distance.

He jabbed experimentally and I blocked it, the knife sliding off my forearm. He retreated and we circled once more. I flipped my knife and caught it in a reverse grip, then stepped closer and swung widely, gauging his defenses. He blocked with his knife, our blades sliding off each other; I stepped back and we continued to circle.

After a moment he seemed to grow tired of our slow pace and rushed me, using his free hand to try and grapple mine. I blocked his arm with mine, punching the front of his mask with my knife hand. A kick to the gut had him stumbling back and muttering under his breath. Likely cursing.

I just raised my hands, preparing for our next bout.

A couple moments passed before Tadasuke rushed me again, this time using actions that showed his prowess with a blade instead of being designed to test my defenses.

It was during one of these such movements that he managed to get his blade past mine and our wrists met. He moved his up and in a circle, rotating his arm as he did so. I was forced to copy his movements. As our arms completed the circle he flicked his wrist and sent my knife tumbling away. I grimaced and quickly pulled my hand away.

The timber wolf backed away, a small 'hmph' of satisfaction and confidence escaping him. I clenched my fists and teeth and rushed him. He backed away, apparently caught off guard, and he actually nearly stumbled as he backed away a little too quickly and without coordination.

I reached up and grabbed the wrist attached to the paw holding the knife, grabbing his other one as an afterthought. We pushed against each other as our hands went upward. The timber wolf was stronger than me, and that was made more and more clear as my feet began to slide backwards on the polished wood floor while his moved forward. I grit my teeth and leapt into the air, slamming my knee into the underside of his jaw. He stumbled back, giving me enough room to quickly bring my legs around and wrap them around his neck. I spun myself around him and made sure to grab his wrist once more as I used my other arm to repeatedly slam my elbow into the top of his helmet, right between the ears.

I let out a yelp as his other hand, which I'd stupidly not attempted to secure, grabbed a plate on my side and pulled my off his shoulders. He tossed me against the wall and I crumpled to the ground, letting out a groan as I rolled over onto my back.

Tadasuke didn't waist his chance; he straddled me, raising his knife and bringing it down towards my throat. I managed to catch it in time, holding the blade back with both hands on his wrist. He brought his other hand to the pommel of his knife, pushing with as much strength as he could manage. I responded in kind.

A gunshot sounded out, most of the knife disappearing. It clattered to the ground several feet away, leaving only an inch or two of flat blade and a prong on the underside where it hadn't taken off the whole thing. Tadasuke grunted in surprise and raised himself up, turning his head. I took the advantage and reached up, grabbing the plate on his chest where it met his neck, pulling it down fast and hard as I simultaneously raised my head. Our helmets slammed into each other, the impact more than audible, and he stumbled off me as he clutched his head and backed away. He stood quickly and I followed, though much more slowly. I'd taken more punishment than he had, after all.

I turned my head to see Tench, Tambor, Sargo and Akula standing a dozen feet away, rifles in their hands. A quick, cursory inspection told me they were Heckler & Koch 416s. Akula even had one slung on her back, likely intended for me.

The rifles raised half an inch and my eyes widened, quickly throwing myself to the ground as they opened fire. The reports were deafening in the enclosed space, though the helmet dampened the sound automatically so that it would not cause permanent hearing damage. A couple minutes to an hour or two, maybe, but that was likely it.

Tadasuke turned and ran, stumbling and falling as the impacts of the bullets shifted his body weight and balance off kilter, but getting back up as soon as the guns went silent only a couple seconds after. He bolted.

Tench, Tambor and Sargo went after him while Akula ran up to me. I took the paw she offered and let her pull me up to a standing position.

“Took ya long enough,” I remarked.

“Yes, well, we had some difficulties with the armory doors,” Akula replied. “All that matters, though, is that we made it in time.”

“Agreed,” I said.

“Here you go, by the way,” Akula said after a moment, unslinging the rifle on her back and handing it to me. I gladly took it.

“Thanks,” I said. “Now, let's go see if we can catch him.”

Akula nodded; we turned to follow where the others had gone, only to stop when our comms crackled.

 _“Gato, Akula, Tadasuke has escaped. I don't know how, but he did,”_ Tambor reported. I sighed.

“Understood, Tambor. Report back to the dining room or something,” I replied.

 _“Wilco,”_ Tambor said. I cut the comms.

“'Wilco'?” Akula asked.

“Short for 'will comply',” I explained.

“Oh,” she said. “Makes sense.”

“Indeed.”

We turned, slinging the rifles and making our way towards the dining room.

 


	8. 7. Discussions

I sat a few feet away from the others, tossing a tennis ball that Tench had knowingly brought me, bouncing it off the floor and onto the wall. The noise was a constant, rhythmical pattern with interspersed moments of dialogue from the others as they discussed how Tadasuke had gotten in and out of the compound.

After a few minutes of both good and nonsensical ideas, I finally decided to butt in with, “HALO.”

Everyone's attention turned towards me at that.

“What?” Souta asked.

“Possibly a HAHO,” I added, ignoring the question.

“Again, what?” Souta asked.

“High Altitude Low Opening or High Altitude High Opening,” Akula said. “A HALO jump is where somebody jumps from a high altitude, usually around or under cruising altitude for commercial jets and planes. When they get to a low altitude, they pull their parachute cords. A HAHO jump is like that, except they pull their chute shortly after exiting the plane.”

“Could somebody enter the compound from above like that?” Sargo asked, looking at Souta.

“Well, I suppose, but it would require some kind of stealth tech to hide themselves and their parachute; we have radar emplacements set to pick up on anything bigger than a foot in size, whether height, width, or even depth,” the tod answered. “I don't know where they would get that kind of technology, though.”

“What I wanna know,” Tambor interjected, “is what Tadasuke meant when he said that he learned from Gato.”

I didn't stop tossing the ball as I replied, “Exactly what he said.”

Tambor growled, apparently not liking my answer in the slightest.

“You're saying you trained him!?” the coywolf snapped angrily, standing.

“Yes,” I answered. “Back when he was a member of the JTF.”

There was a long, silent moment that followed my reply. Everybody stared at me in shock, though none more so than Souta and Akula.

Souta was likely because he could not believe the mammal we were supposed to be defending him from was somebody with our skillset. Akula was likely because she had not expected me to reveal this information so early into the mission.

“Perhaps an explanation would be a good idea,” I said. I caught the ball and set it down, then stood. “Tadasuke Hagiwara is not our target's real name. His real name is Isei Takabe. Formerly known amongst the JTF as Agent Oberon.”

“Wait, _the_ Agent Oberon? The one who died when that experimental reactor went up twelve years back, right here in Osaka? _That_ Agent Oberon?” Sargo asked.

“You know the Agency only gives names out once,” I replied.

“But, didn't he-”

“No, Oberon did not die when the reactor went; in fact, the reactor never went up in the first place. Sure, it almost did, but it was an isolated explosion in the end that only put the reactor offline. Demolition crews disguised as NMRT crews went in after the fact and claimed it was a secondary explosion caused by built up pressure. Oberon was fine, minus some heavy damage to his shoulder. The cause of the explosion was none other than the mammal he gets his name from, who, coincidentally, is also a timber wolf. Eventually, he recovered and, shortly after his recovery was complete, disappeared. It wasn't until about eight years back that he reappeared under the name Tadasuke Hagiwara. We knew it couldn't be the same one as who almost blew up the reactor because he was still being held in a certain little black site on the southeastern end of Cuba.

I, being Isei's former trainer, was placed in charge of hunting him down any time he showed up. Our last clash was five years ago, my last mission until this one. I managed to corner him in what was thought to be an abandoned building; turns out he had well over a hundred different mammals comprised of people he'd swayed to join him. Another couple hundred people were also present, all civilians. I was ordered to remove him from the equation, even if I had to sacrifice everybody in the building to do it. So I set charges on every support beam I could find, eliminating the armed guards when I came across one, but otherwise remaining hidden and undetected. It was not until I was outside the building and had detonated the charged that I found him waiting in the small shack I was using as a base of operations for the time being that I learned he had never been in the building since the initial data was compounded and given to me.

I was captured and subsequently severely injured by several of his lackeys despite his explicit orders to the contrary, that I not be harmed, though I was eventually rescued by Agents Seawolf and Balao. The next five years was spent recuperating from the ordeal, training, and some mandatory counseling by psychiatrists, psychologists and my wife.”

“Your wife is a psychologist?” Souta asked.

I smirked. “No.”

There was a moment where the tod looked confused before understanding dawned and he said “Oh,” quietly.

“That really doesn't answer any of my major questions,” Sargo said. “Why did he go rogue? Why did he become a terrorist instead of going to a private security group? Why has he managed to evade capture all this time?”

“I can only answer your last question, I'm afraid, because that's the only one I know anything resembling an answer to. Isei has managed to evade capture because of some kind of intelligence leak inside the Agency. Maybe even the JTF itself,” I said.

“Wait, you're saying that there's a...a spy on the inside of the JTF who's working for Tadasuke, or Isei, or whatever he's called?” Sargo asked.

“That is a possibility that Director Wolfe is considering, however we are unsure as to which branch said hypothetical spy is located in. Could be the American branch, could be the Japanese, could even be the Greek or South African branch. We just don't know for sure,” I said.

“We have a branch in Greece?” Tambor asked.

“We have a branch in _South Africa_?” Sargo asked, sounding much more incredulous than Tambor had.

“And Australia,” Tench said. “We have branches in a lot of countries. All first world, most second world, and one or two third world countries have at least some presence of the Agency within them. North Korea is the only country that we have absolutely zero presence in.”

“Well, nice job Tench, reading up on our branches,” I said. Tench seemed surprised by the compliment, though he did noticeably sit up a bit straighter after a second or two of processing it.

I looked at Akula. “However, there is one thing I want to know, regarding the Japanese branch.”

“Shoot,” the jackal said.

“Why did you have a black site in the CEZ?”

Akula blinked, as if caught off guard by the question, and I noticed that Souta tensed in the corner of my eye.

“Uh, well, I don't know,” she said.

“You expect me to believe that?” I asked. “If that were a government black site, then they wouldn't have taken Isei there. That makes it an Agency black site. So I want to know why your branch had a black site there.”

“Gato, I don't know,” Akula said, her tone becoming slightly defensive. “I really have no idea why we would have a black site there; that would be the jurisdiction of the Ukraine branch, not us.”

“Well, it wasn't a Ukraine black site, not with Japanese guards and Souta here keeping the place up and running, not to mention his friend Naoki Takeda-”

“Don't,” Souta said. I turned my head, surprise and curiosity hitting me simultaneously.

“Excuse me?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Don't say his name,” Souta said. “You don't have the right to say his name.”

“Oh, is that so?” I asked, sarcasm lacing my tone. “Why's that?”

“Because your protégé killed him!” the tod snapped.

“Why do you care? You two were just friends. You can make plenty more of those,” I said. The tod didn't seem to realize I was baiting him, nor that he was taking it hook, line and sinker.

“No we weren't!”

It took a moment for the realization of what he'd said to settle into his head, but once it did his eyes widened in horror.

“Well, at least now I know those videos weren't just for show,” I remarked. Souta tensed, though the visible flush gave away it was more embarrassment than anger that caused his reaction. “Gotta say, Souta, Naoki was quite the looker. Not too terribly smart though, seeing as to how badly he underestimated Isei.”

“Shut your mouth!” the tod shouted angrily. He stood threateningly.

“Make me,” I replied as I stood to meet him. He clenched his fists and walked around the table, a growl escaping from his throat as he stared at me.

“Take it back,” he said threateningly.

“Make me,” I said again. He snarled and rushed me. I ducked down and threw my shoulder into his pelvis, lifting him up and over me. He thudded to the ground a couple feet away from me, letting out a grunt when he impacted but otherwise not showing any signs that it had hurt him. He rolled over and stood, growl still pouring from his throat.

“Take it back, now!” he ordered.

“No,” I replied. He charged.

I dodged to the side, grabbing the front of his shirt as I did so and spinning around. I threw him against the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of him. Before he could sink to the ground or otherwise react, I had a paw around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

Souta gasped and clawed at my forearm as the others stood in alarm. They didn't move, however, showing that they trusted me not to seriously harm the tod. That was good.

“Souta, look at me,” I said, my voice ice cold and calm. He complied, though didn't stop clawing at my forearm. “Why. Did you have. A black site. In the Chernobyl. Exclusion. Zone?” I lightened my grip on him enough so that he would be able to speak as I asked the question.

“I-I don't-” I tightened my grip, the tod cutting himself off with a choked gasp. I lightened my grip again.

“Why?” I asked.

“I don't know!” the tod shouted. “I ran the place with Naoki, sure, but I didn't know why it existed or why it was there! You would have to ask whoever authorized it!”

“Who authorized it?” I prodded.

“Don't know,” Souta said. “Somebody high up, though.”

I stared at the tod for a long moment, eyes narrowing dangerously, before I huffed and released him. He fell to the ground, gasping, coughing and hacking as he rubbed at where I'd held him.

After a moment I said, “I didn't mean it, by the way.”

“W-what?” the tod asked between coughs.

“What I said about your friend being stupid. I was just trying to rile you up; he was actually really smart,” I said. “From what I read on his file, anyway.”

“Yeah, he was,” Souta said. I turned away, walking towards the door.

Right before I crossed the threshold, however, I paused and turned. “Tench, can you come with me? I need to discuss something with you,” I said. The water monitor blinked, surprise in his eyes, then stood.

“Of course,” he said. He followed as I turned and walked away.

As we walked away, I heard Souta ask, “They aren't going to _talk_ , are they?”

I didn't hear the reply.

 


	9. 8. Comfort (Incomplete)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter shall be updated when it is completed.

The following morning found me stretching in mine and Akula's room, having returned a couple hours prior to the current time. My armor was in place, helmet waiting to be activated under my chin and on the back of my neck, just below the activation button.

Well, I referred to it as a button, but in reality it was more like a pad scanner. Each suit was custom made for the wearer, and it had defensive capabilities to ensure that somebody with similar enough measurements didn't attempt to take and wear it. If somebody who was not coded into the suit's compact database of approved wearers tried to activate the helmet, it would deliver a little under the safety limit for the registered wearer's species in volts, factoring in their health issues and a few other key factors.

At least, that was what it was _supposed_ to do. I wasn't sure if that would really work, and I really didn't want to risk killing Souta by testing it on him.

A groan told me that Akula had joined the world of the living; she completely ignored me as she shuffled into the bathroom and closed the door. A moment later I heard sounds that, quite honestly, I hadn't been expecting to hear, especially not from Akula: the telltale (and quite familiar) sound of choked, attempting-to-be-suppressed sobs.

In the moment, I did not consider the possible consequences or what could happen if I went into that bathroom, although in hindsight I do not suspect I would have acted differently if I had known. Akula was somebody I trusted and considered a friend, and I look out for my friends, no matter what may become of my actions.

I slowly and tentatively pushed the door open, sticking my head in. I caught Akula in the tail end of hastily wiping her eyes before she raised her head to look at me, sitting on the floor with her back to the tub. When I saw that, I did not hesitate to fully enter the bathroom and shut the door behind me, turning the lock so nobody barged in looking for us and found something that would potentially embarrass the persona that Akula had built for herself.

“Hey, what's wrong?” I asked, my worry distinct in my voice, not to mention likely in my expression.

“Nothing,” Akula replied, most unconvincingly.

“Akula, you know you can tell me,” I said, placing a paw on her shoulder. “We're all friends here, yeah?”

There was a noticeable pause before the jackal spoke again. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “I just...I dunno, I guess I'm upset? I thought Isei was dead for twelve years, and then I learn he's not and then he actively fights to injure me like he did last night, and I can't help but worry that he might not be savable.”

“Not everyone is, Kazuko,” I said. The jackal blinked, surprise that I'd used her name in her eyes. “You can't save everyone. Some people are going to destroy themselves no matter how hard you try to prevent it.”

Silence fell between us as she mulled my words over. Finally, she said, “But we should still try.”

“You can try,” I said, “but you better be careful you don't drown trying to keep everyone afloat.” My words got a chuckle from Akula.

“Do you study philosophy or something in your spare time?” she asked.

“I read a lot of self help books after the reactor incident,” I replied. “I also have moments where I get really deep and all that jazz. Helped Tench out when his sister was diagnosed with early stage cancer. It's not usually deadly, the one she has, but it is expensive to get rid of and they want it gone just in case.”

“I'm sorry,” Akula said quietly.

“Don't be,” I replied. “Tench is mostly over it. Now he's worried about paying for it.”

 


	10. 9. Conflicts and Gunrunners

I walked the halls of the compound's main building in silence, my helmet in place to hide my features from whoever came across me. I wasn't sure if I wanted anybody to know about what I had done; they'd likely be able to tell from the shame that practically radiated from me as it was without seeing my expression. Whether the shame was because of _what_ had happened or _who_ it had happened with, I wasn't entirely sure.

I turned the corner and found Tench, in full armor, leaning against the wall. I froze, quickly deducing he had been waiting for me. Which meant either he knew or this was the biggest coincidence I'd ever experienced; problem is, I don't believe in coincidences.

Tench's head turned towards me, the water monitor's posture stiffening slightly. After a moment, he pushed off from the wall and began walking towards me. His hands were clenched, but he always walked like that so it was difficult to tell if he was angry unless they were shaking. As of yet, they weren't but that could change any moment.

He came to a stop in front of me.

“Gato,” he said.

“Tench,” I replied. “Do you need something?”

“The truth would be preferable,” the lizard said.

“About what?” I asked.

“Us,” he answered. “I want to know why you still come to me when you know how much it hurts. When you _know_ I hurt, and ache, every time because I know I can't really have you. Why come to me when you need some stress relief when you could go to so many others?”

“Like who, Tench? Who do I have to go to when I'm on a mission?” I asked, a tiny bit of anger seeping into my voice.

“Well you got Akula now!” Tench replied harshly, a hiss accentuating his words. I blinked, caught off guard. I'd _never_ heard him hiss before, at least not aggressively, and _certainly_ not towards me.

“Tench, listen, what happened between me and Akula, however you found out about it, was not planned by either of us. I was concerned for a friend because she was hurting and it just _happened_. I didn't do it on purpose, and I certainly didn't do it to hurt you,” I said. “Even if I do not love you in a romantic sense, that does not mean I want to hurt you.”

“How could she be hurting, Gato!? What could she possibly have that could hurt her enough for you to be concerned!?” Tench shouted.

I was silent for a long moment before I finally said, “It's not my secret to tell, Tench.”

The water monitor surprised me by grabbing the front of my breastplate and slamming me into the wall.

“No, I don't give a fuck if it's your secret to tell or not! You are going to fucking tell me now, goddammit!” he shouted. I just stared, never before having seen the normally so calm water monitor this angry before.

I sighed. “Kazuko and Isei used to date, back before the incident twelve years ago,” I said.

“It was serious?”

“Yes, it was.”

A moment passed before Tench huffed and dropped me, turning away.

“You still didn't answer my question,” he said after a long moment. “About why you come to me despite knowing that it hurts.”

“Because you're the only one I trust enough to go to,” I said, as if it were obvious. Tench turned to face me, his mask hiding his reaction from me. He seemed to realize as such and reached up, deactivating it. I did the same.

“Do you mean that?” Tench asked, his anger gone and replaced by happiness he tried desperately to hide.

“'Course,” I replied. “You ever know me to lie to a friend?”

“...No,” Tench said. “I'm...sorry about slamming you into the wall.”

“Don't worry about it,” I said, waving the apology off. “Besides, I could use something to put me in my place every now and then.” We both chuckled.

“Still, I reacted poorly. I don't have a claim to you, and I knew that, but I still...” Tench trailed off awkwardly; I just smiled in amusement.

“Jealousy gets the best of us all, sometimes,” I said. “Nothing to be ashamed of.”

“But-”

“Tench, drop it,” I said. He seemed ready to argue, but eventually just sighed and nodded. “Thank you.”

“Hmph,” Tench grunted.

“Anyway, I'm hungry again, so I'm gonna go eat. You wanna come with or are you gonna pout all day?” I asked.

“I hate you,” Tench muttered.

“No you don't,” I shot back.

“Yeah, I guess that's true,” the water monitor replied.

We turned and began walking, making our way towards the kitchen. We arrived after a few moments to find Souta and Akula eating. The jackal looked up, saw me and tench, and immediately froze. Her eyes widened as she looked between us. She lowered the slice of pizza she'd been holding and sat up straight, nervousness radiating from her. Souta seemed to notice it, as he looked between Akula and us.

“Something I should know?” he asked.

“No,” I growled out.

“Okay, but did something happen?” the tod asked.

“You could say that,” Akula said quietly. “I uh...I should go.” She stood, making to leave, but I slammed a fist into the wall. Souta grimaced at the crack in the drywall.

“Sit down and finish eating,” I said.

“But-”

“Do I need to make that an order?” I asked, a faint growl in my voice.

Akula stood there for a moment, torn between doing as I had said and leaving to try and deescalate a situation that didn't need deescalated.

“No sir,” she finally said. She sat down.

“Thank you,” I said. I looked at Tench. “Pepper?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Tench replied eagerly. He really loved spicy food.

“Okay, coming up,” I said as I walked over to the fridge. I opened it and went about collecting the pizza for me and Tench.

A minute or two later, I sat down and handed a plate to Tench.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Don't mention it,” I replied.

There was silent for several long, uncomfortable moments as Tench and I ate before Souta cleared his throat.

“So, I know you said to drop it, but if I can, I would like to know what happened,” the tod said.

“Souta-”

My warning was interrupted by Akula holding up a paw.

“He does, in a way, have a right to know. It is his house,” she said. I frowned, but said nothing. She took a deep breath, then looked at Souta. “Gato and I-”

“Yeah, I know about that, I mean what actually happened to make things so awkward and stiff between you?” Souta said. Akula blinked and looked at me. I shrugged.

“Um...it was that,” she said.

“...Seriously?” Souta asked, his expression deadpan and voice holding a trace of incredulity.

“Yes, seriously,” Akula said, annoyance in her voice. “For some people, that's more than enough.”

“Is it because he's married?” Souta asked.

“Well, I mean, that's a part of it, but it's not just that,” the jackal said. “It feels...I dunno, it just feels like it was the wrong thing to do. But I still did it, and now there's no going back.”

“I'm right here,” I said.

“Yes, but you agree,” Akula replied.

“Fair enough. Continue.”

“The largest issue, to me at least, is that I'm technically still, um...” she trailed off, glancing at Tench, then to Souta. “I'm technically still dating Isei.”

“Wait, what?” Tench asked, apparently not shocked enough to remain silent for several long moments. I suspected he was acting, considering I'd just told him. The same could not be said for Souta.

“Me and Isei were dating when the incident with the reactor happened. We never technically broke up, so I consider myself to still be dating him. Whether he feels the same or not I am unsure,” the jackal replied. Tench raised a hand and pointed at her.

“You're saying that your boyfriend-” he shifted his hand and pointed at Souta “-killed his best friend and internet video buddy?”

“Maybe phrase that in a more sensitive way?” I requested.

“Yes, Tench, that is correct,” Akula said.

“You're sitting within arm's reach of the mammal who's best friend was killed by your boyfriend,” the water monitor commented with an arched eyebrow. Akula glanced at Souta.

“I am aware,” she said.

“If you're worried I will strike Agent Akula, do not be. I am more than aware that attempting to harm her for something she was in no control over, let alone knew about, would likely end with me being severely injured by either her or Agent Gato,” Souta said.

“Why do you assume that I'd hurt you?” I asked. It was a pretty valid question, in my mind.

“Even if you do not love Agent Akula, I am well aware that what you did results in a close bond being formed between the participants the moment you're joined,” Souta replied. “You are protective, sometimes violently so, of the other. Same goes for them if their species used to mate for life.”

“...Oh,” I said. In truth, I'd completely forgotten about that small fact.

“Gato, I'm-”

“It's fine,” I said, holding up a paw to stop Akula's apology. “You were distressed, I wasn't thinking, and I should have tried harder. Both of us messed up, but there's no point in wailing about it like kits. Let's just put it behind us and move on.”

Akula remained silent for a moment before she just nodded. “Okay,” she said, standing up. She stretched. “I'm gonna go get dressed; according to Souta here we're going ta see a friend of his.”

“Associate, not friend,” the tod corrected.

“In the business he runs, that's basically the same thing,” the jackal replied. “And just like actual friends, they expect theirs to have other friends to go to for various needs.”

As the jackal left, I stared at Souta for a long moment, trying to figure out why he felt so odd and stiff. He was inflexible, almost wooden, and it clashed violently with the data I had been given.

It reminded me of myself, to be honest.

I shook the thought away and glanced at Tench to see he had already finished his food. I huffed to myself and started to eat mine.

After finishing, I wiped my paws off and stood, placing my plate in the sink and walking out.

Time to prepare for an outing.

 

 

*******

 

 

The Knight rumbled down the road, the quiet purr of the large vehicle still baffling me. It was amazing, really, especially considering it was massive compared to a Hummer and much quieter. Sure, the Hummer wasn't _that_ loud, but the Knight was still noticeably quieter, even if only by a little.

The vehicle pitched backwards as we started up an incline.

“So, who're we going to see, anyway?” Tambor asked from in front of me.

“Gun runner,” I replied. “The arms aren't an issue, it's ammo. We need to expect Tadasuke to have a large following when he tries a full fledged assault, not to mention when we go after him. So we're gonna get a large stockpile of ammo, as much as we can today, and continue to order ammo until the day before our assault.”

“Wait, what?” Souta asked from up front, apparently keyed into our comms. I was going to need to have a word with him about that. “What do you mean, 'when we go after him'?”

“Exactly what I said,” I replied. “I don't see how that's confusable for another meaning, if one exists.”

“There wasn't a mention of you guys going after him! You're supposed to protect me from him!” Souta exclaimed.

“That was before we knew for certain that Tadasuke was here. Plans change, and the mission changes accordingly. But don't worry, your safety will still be a priority; just not a number one priority once we leave for the assault,” I said.

“I feel so much better,” Souta muttered sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“Oh relax, you'll have plenty of highly competent guards keeping you safe,” Sargo said. Tambor snickered at the words 'highly competent' but didn't say anything. I rolled my eyes.

The Knight came to a stop several minutes later, the front doors opening as Tench and Akula exited the vehicle. Souta pushed open the door next to him and climbed out, taking a deep breath as he exited the giant SUV. I followed him out, coming to a stop when I saw an old, slightly decrepit (but still serviceable) church waiting for us.

“I'm getting Black Lagoon vibes here...” I remarked.

“...You know, I never thought of it that way,” Souta said after a moment to think it over.

“What's Black Lagoon?” Akula asked. Me and Souta just stared at her, our expressions deadpan. She stared back for a moment, genuinely confused, then seemed to realize she wasn't going to get an answer and just rolled her eyes, turning away.

We approached the building, Souta knocking on the door. The right one opened slightly, revealing a ussuri brown bear.

“Whit do ye want?” he asked, a Scottish accent making me blink. That wasn't what I had been expecting.

“Yuzuro, my friend, how're you?” Souta said, voice cheerful.

Seriously? A Japanese bear with a Scottish accent? Could this day be any odder?

Probably jinxed myself, but oh well.

“My friends here would like to browse the collection, if you don't mind,” Souta said.

“Whit's in it fer me?” the bear asked.

“The usual,” Souta replied. The bear, Yuzuro, let out a snort, but relented and pushed the door open.

“Whit do ye need? I'll get it from the back,” he said.

“Five-five-six by forty-five millimeter NATO, seven-six-two by fifty-one millimeter NATO, and some fifty Browning,” I said. “Much as you got.”

“Aye, but it'll cost ye,” the bear said.

“I think Souta's got that covered,” I replied.

“Right ye are, laddie,” Yuzuro said, chuckling as he turned and walked towards the back of the church. We followed him inside, our gazes wandering as we checked the building for any possible traps. It was unlikely, but we wouldn't make the mistake of assuming anything.

I noted that Yuzuro had been wearing a grey cassock.

When we cleared the room, we relaxed slightly; not completely, but enough that we didn't appear tense any longer. I noticed that Akula had edged closer to me, perhaps feeling better about what had happened. I knew I was, given time to think about it.

It was a mistake, plain and simple, but that didn't mean we had to angst over it.

“So, you having any doubts?” the female jackal asked.

“About?” I inquired.

“All of this. Whether it's really necessary,” she replied.

“It's necessary, for sure, but I would rather go about it differently,” I answered.

“Hm,” Akula hummed.

My ear twitched as the sound of faint footsteps at the entrance reached me. I turned, my head tilted, then looked at Akula.

Both of us drew the sidearms from our chest holsters as the doors blew inwards and four armed mammals rushed in. We each fired twice, each shot striking a mammal in the chest. They jerked at the impact, but stayed upright; we fired again, this time sending our shots into their heads.

The others drew their pistols and turned to the door, though five rapid rifle shots sounded out and our guns were knocked from our grasps.

Ten mammals rushed through the door before we could reach for the fallen soldiers' rifles, lasers dancing across the open space and between us. I grimaced and raised my paws, knowing it would be pointless. Even with our suits, Souta would still be at risk, and that wasn't acceptable. The others followed suit as we were surrounded, a grey wolf walking in a couple moments afterwards. It wasn't Tadasuke, that much was certain, but it was definitely somebody working for him. I recognized the patches on their shoulders.

“Well, this was certainly a lot easier than I had been anticipating,” he commented. “I'm a bit disappointed, to be honest.”

“You got lucky is all,” Akula replied. “Better hope you don't make a mistake; do that and we'll be done with you before you can blink.”

“Oh, I don't doubt that,” the canid said.

The door to the back room creaked open and I turned my head to see the bear, Yuzuro, walking out and into the main room. Instantly he paused, then cleared his throat and resumed walking, one step every two or three seconds.

“Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and for thy possession, the ends of the earth. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dashthem in pieces, like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, ye kings. Be admonished, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way, though his wrath be kindled but a little,” he said as he approached.

 _'Seriously? Psalms Two-Eight? Forget Black Lagoon, I just got Hellsing vibes,'_ I thought. A snort escaped me.

“Hey, hey! Stop right there!” one of the mammals shouted. Yuzuro came to a stop, his head tilting slightly. He rolled his shoulders and his head, then flexed his arms; they jerked as he raised them, sawed off Benelli M4s appearing in his hands. The barrels were cut down to right on the edge of the shroud and the stock was just a curved grip.

The closest mammal let out a shocked “Tch!” and took a blast to the head. The pellets tore though him, leaving nothing but a bloody pulp in their wake. The second-closest guard also took a blast to the head, though he managed to dodge enough for only the left side of his head to be caught in the pellets' path.

“-----------,” one of the mammals cried, turning away from Tench and aiming their rifle at Yuzuro. The water monitor took the opening, sending a kick backwards into the lynx's leg and knocking it out from under him. The feline let out a shout of surprise, before being cut off as Tench dropped to a knee and slammed a fist into their throat.

Yuzuro fired again, black shells ejecting from the ports revealing he'd fired slugs. As I turned to confirm my suspicions, I saw two mammals drop with gaping holes in their heads. Oh yeah, definitely slugs.

I quickly reached back and activated my helmet as a mammal turned towards me. It locked into place just as they fired, the bullet bouncing off the metal but still sending me stumbling back.

Arms wrapped around me from behind; immediately I jumped into the air, making the mammal lean back to avoid stumbling forward, then wrapped my legs around theirs and tugged on the inside of their knees as hard as I could.

Their legs jerked out from under them and they fell, with me landing on top of them. The released me as the air was driven from their bodies, and I quickly rolled over and picked up an MP5SD, firing a single shot into their head before turning and firing another at Tench's helmeted head. It bounced off and hit a mammal coming at him from an angle, and the water monitor looked at me. I couldn't see his expression, but he was likely looking at me with his infamous “did you just?” face.

Yes, yes I did.

I smirked under my helmet and turned, slamming the SMG's stock butt into a charging arctic fox vixen. I put a round into her head, then made to turn and engage anybody else. I paused when my gaze caught the apparent commander of the troops still standing where he'd been before the conflict had started. A smirk was on his muzzle.

I ducked under a swing of a knife from a female wolf, throwing my shoulder into her gut and flipping her over me. She slammed into the ground with a grunt, then received a shot to the head like the others.

The sounds of combat finally ended with a final shot from Yuzuro's shotguns, the final two troops dropping to the ground. I dropped the MP5SD and approached the still-smirking wolf.

A fist to the underside of the jaw wiped that annoying smirk off his muzzle, that's for sure.

I lifted the wolf off the ground, though due to his size I couldn't lift him off the ground completely. Didn't matter. I'd get what I need or I wouldn't, but either way we'd still won this little engagement.

“How did you know where to find us?” I asked, the wolf just smirking at me in reply. I grunted in annoyance but did not lash out. Interrogation was a battle of will, and he'd just started it. If the one being interrogated could get the interrogator to lash out or lose their cool, they won. I would not allow myself to lose my cool, though that did not mean I could not do anything other than question him.

It was an interrogation, after all.

I removed a paw from the wolf's shirt and snapped my fingers. “Yo, Anderson expy, get over here,” I said.

“I have a name, lad,” the ursine remarked. He approached regardless, tilting his head. I reached down, felt that he was still holding a Benelli, and grabbed his wrist. I pulled it up, placing the gun in front of the wolf's ear.

“If you would be so kind,” I said. The shotgun discharging was his reply.

The wolf howled in pain as his ear was shredded, the tattered remains flopping to the ground a foot or so away. Yuzuro backed away a step and lowered the shotgun as I held the wolf by the shirt, letting him howl with a deadpan expression on my face.

When he quieted, I went back to it.

“Young man,” I said. He looked at me. “The left one's next.”

That got a whimper.

“So tell me what I want to know. Now,” I ordered.

“I...I can't,” the wolf said. “He'd kill me if-”

Yuzuro's shotgun firing interrupted him, his left ear disintegrating as the slug tore through it. The wolf screamed and I let him, my expression never changing.

Again he quieted, but this time whimpers and choked sobs followed. Tears welled in his eyes.

“P-please, d-don't...” he begged. “I-I ca-can't. I would i-if I c-could.”

“Tell me how you knew to find us here, or else the next target will be below the belt!” I threatened.

“Gato!” Tench exclaimed, shock in his voice.

The wolf stared at me, his eyes wide in pain and terror, for a long, long moment before he finally let out a sigh. “I-I don't know the specifics, o-only that our commander p-put a tracker on one of y-you during the f-fight at Souta's p-place,” he said.

“What kind of tracker?” I asked.

“I-I don't know. Just that it's some k-kind of tracker,” the wolf answered. I frowned, then released him. He collapsed to the ground, laying there for a moment. I gestured for the others to go out, which they seemed happy to comply with.

I reached up and pressed the button on the back of my helmet, the mask folding into place in its resting location. “Yuzuro, Gen Three-Nineteen, if you will,” I said. The wolf had moved to his hands and knees facing the door, his breathing still ragged.

Yuzuro raised a shotgun, the barrel resting inches from the wolf's skull, and began to recite the verse. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are nothing more than dust, and to the dust we shall return. Amen.”

The prayer was punctuated with a resounding boom as the shotgun fired, splattering the ground with the insides of the wolf's skull.

“Ye'll find the ammo in the back, sorted an' ready fer pickup; I gotta clean up this mess,” Yuzuro said. I nodded and turned, walking towards the back of the church. I pushed open the door and walked in, finding eight duffel bags sitting on a pair of crates, four for each. I activated my helmet, then keyed the comms.

“Tench, Tambor, I need some assistance in the back room,” I said. Confirmations came from the two, so I waited.

The two walked in a moment later, their eyes resting on the bags.

“Really?” Tambor asked.

“I didn't want to risk dropping them. You any idea how much all this ammo is gonna weigh?” I replied.

“...Never mind,” the coywolf said.

“That's what I thought,” I said.

The three of us each picked up what we could, which resulted in me carrying two, Tambor carrying two, and Tench carrying the final four. It is an accepted fact that a reptile of equal size to you could potentially be much stronger than you, and a reptile with any size superiority is to be automatically assumed as much stronger than you and treated as such.

Tench was a good example of that, in my opinion.

We loaded the bags into the Knight and shut the doors. Yuzuro appeared in the doorway, shotguns hidden from view; likely back inside his sleeves.

“Would ye like tae repent, lads and lassie?” he asked cheerfully.

“...Are you certified?” I asked.

“Bloody 'course I'm certified. My priestly appearance ain't just fer show, ye know,” the bear replied. “And my doors are always open, if ye need tae come down at any point in time.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” I said. “Unfortunately, I don't think we have time. If they found us once, they'll find us again. I'd rather be in a defensible location when that happens.” I looked at the church, then to Yuzuro. “No offense to the church, of course.”

“Oh, none taken. She ain't much tae look at, but she gets the job done,” the bear replied.

“Kinda like Tambor,” Sargo commented.

“Hey!”

“What? I've seen your stuff in the showers; can't fault me for telling the truth,” the lynx relied.

“I can and I will!” the coywolf snapped. “Not that it is the truth or anything.”

“Right,” Sargo said. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“And how do you know that it gets the job done?” I asked. Sargo arched an eyebrow.

“You joking? The guy has a different companion every night and I never hear any disappointment,” he replied.

“Can you guys not discuss this?” Tambor asked.

“Yeah, probably not a good idea to discuss this in front of a priest who has shotguns ready to use at a moment's notice,” Tench commented.

“I may be a priest, but that don't mean I ain't dabbled in my fair share,” Yuzuro said with a chuckle. I huffed in amusement and climbed into the Knight. Souta approached the church once more, slipping inside with Yuzuro. The door closed and we waited in the Knight.

I leaned my head back in the seat, Akula sitting next to me with one leg crossed over the other. Her breathing was even, almost like she was bordering on the waking and sleeping world, and I smiled under my mask.

It was true what Souta had said back at the compound. I didn't want to admit it, but it was. I didn't love Akula, but our actions had formed a bond of some sort. I hoped that it would fade eventually, cast adrift in the world when we either worked together long enough or didn't see each other for long enough. Of course, I knew that wouldn't be the case, but a man can hope, can't he?

Honestly, the only thing I truly desired was that nothing became of our actions. That would be a tad troublesome.

After nearly fifteen minutes, Souta finally walked out of the church with the same cool, mostly-deadpan expression he wore that somehow managed to set me on edge. There was just something about his faint smirk that made me think he was up to something, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. I just knew there was something off.

The tod climbed into the passenger's seat, looking at Tench after a moment when the water monitor just sat there.

“Are we going or not?” he asked.

“Soon as you put on your seat belts,” the lizard replied, addressing all of us. I immediately reached up and pulled mine down, snapping it into place with a _click!_ sound.

“Are you serious?” Souta asked, sounding way too incredulous for my tastes.

“If _Tench_ says to put your seat belt on, you should put it on,” I said, a faint growl in my voice.

“I don't know if that was an insult or compliment, but I'm going to assume it's the latter and we won't say otherwise,” the reptile in question commented.

Souta looked ready to argue, but when he saw that everybody but him was not only secured with a seat belt, but also grabbing the handles above their heads, his eyes widened and he hurried to do the same. The _click!_ was loud in the otherwise silent vehicle. His paw shot up to the handle above him, but the vehicle didn't move.

Tench took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He glanced in the rearview mirror, looked at the one next to him, then let out a huff. His hands flexed on the wheel, gripping it tightly. Then, without warning, he set it into reverse and slammed on the brakes.

Tires squealed as they were suddenly forced to move the several ton vehicle. Tench backed us away just in time for an RPG to slam into the dirt where they'd been sitting a couple seconds prior. His expression didn't change from the calm, serene mood even as shrapnel buried itself itself into the windshield. Souta yelped and ducked down as the water monitor did something that I was not aware was possible: he J-turned a 6.5 ton SUV, give or take a couple hundred or so pounds depending on the upgrades the Japanese branch had had put into it.

The hulking SUV spun nearly on a dime as Tench worked his magic, the front end facing the road and shooting forward as Tench stepped on the gas. The transition was as smooth as such a heavy vehicle could manage which, in addition to Tench's skills with vehicles being rivaled by nobody else in the JTF, meant the spin was almost seamless.

And yet he wasn't done, it seemed, as the vehicle took the curvy downhill road with speed and precision, executing drifts – yes, _drifts_ , in a 6.5 ton automatic – that plastered us to the inside of the SUV. Well, the plastering was more done by us to avoid the seat belts digging into us, but it was still plastering.

Tench shouted “Hold on!” only seconds before the Knight took a hairpin turn and drove straight off the edge of the hill. An RPG slammed into the road where we would have been had we stayed on the path, so I wasn't about to complain.

We slammed down onto the road right where it exited the hill and went into the city. The car shrieked in protest at the torment Tench was throwing at it. The water monitor's lips were peeled back in a manic smile, his eyes gleaming with excitement. There was a reason that Tench was our driver, as I'd told Souta when he'd inquired about it, and this was exactly why. The water monitor was the best at what he did, and what he did was drive, pilot, and fly any motorized vehicle he got his scaly hands on.

There was nobody else I'd rather have drive me through a war zone, which is what it seemed that Osaka was about to become. Whoops.

The Knight weaved in and out of traffic, the semi-tame movements allowing me to turn and look behind us. I blinked, staring at the concession of what appeared to be Knights, Humvees, and a BTR-4.

“Okay, what the fuck is that!?” I shouted. “That's just unfair!”

“What?” Tench asked. He looked in the side mirror. The smile disappeared. “Oh.”

“IS THAT A BTR!?” Sargo screamed in panic.

“WHAT!?” Souta screamed, shock and horror in his voice.

“You mean a Bronetransportyor?" Akula asked curiously.

“You speak Russian?” I asked.

“I dabble in a lot of languages,” the jackal replied. “A good understanding, however, is still a ways down the road, so to speak.”

“Speaking of down the road...” Tench muttered. The Knight swerved as the BTR fired, the 30mm shell impacting a car a little ways down the road. Luckily, it was empty, so nobody was killed in the blast. Not to say there weren't casualties, however; a couple mammals who were watching in curiosity were shredded by shrapnel, bodies collapsing to the sidewalk.

Tench looked into the rearview mirror, gaze meeting Akula's.

“Akula, you bring the fifty?” he asked.

“A girl don't leave home without one,” the jackal replied, pulling a panel on the side of the interior open to reveal a Barrett XM109. I stared in shock, barely able to comprehend the fact she had such a weapon right there.

The jackal pulled the magazine from the rifle, checked the 25mm rounds, then slammed it into the large rifle and racking the charging handle. She answered my mental question of how she was going to fire it by pulling open another panel and tapping a button. A square in the ceiling folded inward, giving us access to the outside. She unbuckled and stood up through the hole, placing the rifle on top of the SUV. I turned to watch the carnage.

The first shot tore into the engine block of the lead Humvee, the second doing the same to the next Humvee. The third annihilated the third Humvee's gunner, his body falling down into the interior minus his head. The fourth round went into the engine block of the same vehicle.

The BTR fired again, Akula ducking down as the shell flew just barely over the Knight. It impacted a storefront down the road, the explosion catching many mammals. I grimaced.

Akula stood quickly and placed the rifle on the top of the Knight once more. I turned to see her send two rounds in rapid succession into the BTR. Then a couple more for good measure, emptying the magazine. The final round seemed to be explosive in nature (cause you know, why not right?) because the BTR quickly went up in a fireball.

“Well, so much for exploding cars being a Hollywood myth,” Souta commented from up front.

“A tracer can, given enough distance,” I replied.

“Also, the final round is explosive,” Akula added, confirming my suspicions.

“Why?” Souta asked.

“Just in case,” Akula replied as she stowed the rifle.

“Uh, hey guys, we got NPA vehicles bearing down on us,” Tench reported. I glanced at Akula, who grimaced but nodded.

“Pull over,” I ordered.

“Sir?” the water monitor questioned.

“Pull over. We don't want to start a shootout with the police,” I said.

“Understood. Wilco.”

The Knight slowed as it pulled over to an empty curb. We quickly went about hiding as much as we could inside hidden compartments. We changed into civilian clothing and hid our armored suits in floor compartments, our weapons and ammo going into whatever would hold them and remain hidden. Akula also called the Japanese branch's headquarters, explaining the situation and receiving confirmation that they would do what they could.

When we were done and satisfied, we all pushed open the driver side doors and stepped out. Immediately we realized that we'd been surrounded some time during our attempts to hide our gear; SAT personnel aimed their rifles and SMGs at us, lasers dancing around our bodies. We did not hesitate to get down to our knees, paws in the air. Immediately ten SAT personnel broke from formation and approached us, weapons never leaving us. Five slung theirs and began to search us, not leaving any location un-searched in their attempts to find weapons on us. They took our phones and anything else not a part of our outfits.

When they were done, one gave a thumbs up to the others and the weapons were slowly lowered as we were placed into cuffs and pulled to our feet. None of us spoke, not even the SAT personnel, as we were taken to the transport vehicles that sat around us.

I could only hope everything went well, otherwise this mission was going to get a whole lot more difficult to accomplish.

 


	11. 10: Interesting Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'bout time I uploaded again, eh? Sorry for the wait

I sat in a cell, one leg crossed over the other and arms crossed as I let my head lean back against the wall. The others were all spread around the other cells, not one of us in the same one as another. It was supposed to lower the chances of us wanting to break out by making sure we couldn't communicate, which I commended the NPA on in my mental checklist.

The sound of approaching pawsteps made me open my eyes, turning my head to see who was walking up to my cell. When I saw it was just another NPA mammal I let out a huff and turned my head back to the wall.

“Hey, fox,” the mammal said in Japanese. When I didn't respond, he let out a “Tch!” of annoyance and smacked the bars on the door. “Hey, I'm talking to you!”

“Shinji, leave the tod be,” one of the other cops said. I turned my head slightly at that, an eyebrow raising a minuscule amount. He noticed.

“Oh, so you can understand us,” he said in Japanese, leaning against the bars slightly.

“I'd hope so, considering I lived here for the first eleven years of my life, then for three years fifteen years back. Haven't been back since the reactor went up,” I replied. The cop, Shinji, appeared startled by the information.

“You worked at the reactor?” he asked.

“Well, I was a security guard, but yeah,” I said. “Wasn't really needed until that final day. Was almost ready to just up and go back to America for better jobs.”

“You would leave your home country for something like boredom?” Shinji asked, anger in his voice. I sighed.

“Listen, Ikari, this may be where I was born, but this ain't my home,” I said. The cop didn't seem to appreciate the Evangelion reference, because he was reaching for his baton quicker than Tench could step on the gas.

In layman's terms, he had just been waiting for an excuse to reach for it.

Luckily one of the older cops was close. His arm shot out and his paw wrapped around Shinji's wrist, stopping him from drawing the baton.

“Shinji! Leave. The prisoner. Be!” the cop snapped. The saika deer turned his head in surprise, then ducked his head.

“Understood, sir,” he said. The cop stared at him for a moment, then released him and walked back towards the way he'd come from. Shinji leaned against the wall next to my cell, letting out a breath. He looked at me. “What'd you mean when you said that this wasn't your home?”

I arched an eyebrow at him, wondering if he was really that clueless.

“I was born here, in Osaka, but I don't really remember much about it from those days. I was eleven when a gas main ruptured and took out my apartment while I was leaving it. Hit my head, pass out, next thing I know I'm waking up at a hospital in America. I'm not sure why,” I said.

“The fact doesn't seem...coincidental, to you?” Shinji asked, as if surprised the idea hadn't come to me.

“What?” I asked.

“Your place goes up and you conveniently wake up in America. That doesn't seem suspicious at all?” the buck clarified, making me pause. I supposed it was kind of convenient, sure, but the thought had never really occurred to me.

“What are you saying?” I asked, anger lacing my words.

“Was the building mostly empty?” Shinji asked in response.

“Except for my parents, yeah,” I said. “Everybody else was at work or dropping their kids off at school.”

“So have you ever thought that, maybe, just maybe, it wasn't an accident?” Shinji asked. There was no malice in his voice; he was just curious. Didn't make me any less angry at his insinuations however.

“Are you trying to say that somebody in the JTF blew up my apartment with my parents inside just to get at me!?” I snapped.

“That is a possibility, but that's not what I was trying to say,” the buck replied. “It's entirely possible they were after somebody else and your parents were unfortunate casualties. They felt bad, having thought the building clear, and took you in. They planned to tell you when you grew up, but they were killed on a mission before they could.”

I was silent for a long moment, staring at the wall in front of me. I thought about what he said, overlaying it with everything I knew, and let out a tiny, quiet gasp when I realized it matched up.

“Was I...right?” Shinji asked curiously.

“It matches up,” I admitted, “but that doesn't mean you're _right_.”

“No, I suppose it doesn't,” he agreed. “I am just a regular old cop after all. This JTF business ain't on my payroll.”

 

 

*******

 

 

Almost five hours after my conversation with the cop, Shinji, found me and the others back at Souta's compound. The Japanese branch had called and cleared the matter up; cops weren't happy, but there wasn't much they could really do.

I had been forced apologize to Shinji for calling him Ikari, however. He'd said he wasn't really angry at the reference, admitting he liked the show, but that he didn't like being equated to the character's less than admirable qualities.

I was still bothered by the points he had made regarding what had happened in my past.

All of us sat or stood in the kitchen, an uncomfortable silence holding us in its vise-like grip. We'd been like this for almost thirty minutes, just standing or sitting with the only sounds being our breathing or our clothes as we shuffled every so often.

Tench sighed suddenly. “I shouldn't have driven into the city,” he said. “If I hadn't, no civilians would have been killed. It's my fault.”

I said nothing, even when he looked at me as if he was hoping I would, simply remaining silent. Souta nudged me.

“Hey, Gato,” he said. I glanced at him. “You're supposed to say 'it ain't your fault' in case you didn't realize.”

“He's right,” I replied. Souta blinked. “I do not say that maliciously, and I do not blame him personally, but he is right that civilians wouldn't have died if he had not driven into Osaka. There is no point in giving false reassurances to disguise that fact, and I will not do so.”

“Gato...!” Sargo said, shock in his voice. I held up a paw.

“Tench is absolutely correct in his statement, but that does not mean I blame him. If there is anybody I blame, it would be the ones who fired the BTR's main gun, knowing that if it missed that civilians would likely be killed. Tench made a choice, and people died, but I do not hold that fact against him. It would be a bit hypocritical of me if I did,” I explained. Sargo's gaze lowered. I looked at Souta. “Is that good enough?”

“Don't ask me,” he replied. I looked at Tench and arched an eyebrow.

“Nothing is good enough,” he said. “Even if none of you blamed me, I still caused the deaths of those civilians, and nothing will change that.”

“No,” I agreed. “But I know that it feels a lot better knowing that none of your friends blame you.”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Tench said quietly. He hung his head, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He opened them. “Thank you for being honest.”

“I see no point in false words,” I replied. “In the end, all they do is hurt.”

Akula glanced at me, then turned her head away slightly, eyes drifting towards the door. I glanced at her curiously, then looked back to the others.

“Excuse me,” Akula said, pushing away from the wall and walking out. I stared after her, curiously tilting my head.

“Hm, wonder if she's feeling unwell,” Souta remarked. I looked at him.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I think you know,” the tod replied. I grimaced, knowing fully well what he meant but not wanting to give the possibility any credibility. Besides, it hadn't even been a full day since then, so it was highly unlikely it would cause anything already.

No, if Akula was feeling unwell, it was because of something unrelated to the matter. Probably just worrying herself sick over the families of those killed during our attempted escape through Osaka. Sounded like her.

“Something happen between you two?” Tambor asked.

“Nothing of importance,” I replied, silencing both Tench and Souta, who'd been opening their mouths to answer. “What we need to be worrying about is who got tagged and finding the tracker before we go anywhere again.”

“It's possible the tracker was a lie and they were just following us,” Souta commented. “I mean, we aren't exactly inconspicuous in an armored SUV that's almost twice the size of a Hummer.”

“He does have a point,” Sargo said.

“It's also possible the tracker isn't a lie,” I replied, ignoring the lynx's comment. “I'm not willing to risk that chance.”

“We could always move down the ladder, so to speak, and travel in two groups in separate, less conspicuous vehicles,” Tambor commented.

“No,” I said. “The Knight is the only vehicle capable of carrying all of us short of an Anaconda Class APC.”

“Or a tank,” Souta commented. We all looked at him, causing him to look between us nervously. “What?”

“You ever seen the inside of a tank?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “But they're big vehicles, right? I assume they got a lot of space.”

“He has a veritable small PMC, yet he doesn't even know what the inside of a tank looks like,” Sargo muttered.

“What? I'm obviously missing something, so what is it?” the tod asked, clearly irritated.

“Most tanks are designed for a crew of four to six small mammals or three medium ones. Nothing over five and a half feet can comfortably operate a tank. Tench would be lucky to even _fit_ into an Abrams, considering his tail,” I said. “And you wanna try and fit _all_ of us into one? You can forget it.”

“Okay, so I was wrong about the space inside a tank. So what?” the tod asked. My lips twitched in anger.

“Souta, I'm _this close–_ ” I held up two fingers only an inch apart “–from going off on you. Do you wanna know why?” I said.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because for all your cockiness and assurance that we're perfectly safe inside this compound, not only has Tadasuke infiltrated it once _and_ nearly won, but he also managed to, apparently, put a tracker on one of us and very nearly had us in his hands at the church. You talk big, bringing up so many plans, but you don't have a freaking clue what you're doing, do you?” I said. He growled.

“Of course I know what I'm doing!” he snapped.

“Really?” I asked. “Because from where I'm sitting, you really don't seem to. Your plans are worthless, you've nearly died twice, and you're down more than three-fourths on numbers when it comes to your guards. Half of those are casualties caused by Tadasuke during his infiltration. The other fourth quit because the threat was way too above what you were paying them.”

“What are you getting at?” The tod practically snarled the question.

“What I'm getting at, Souta, is that I'm considering pulling out now and letting Tadasuke kill you because you're just not worth our time,” I said. There was stunned silence from everybody at my words, but I paid them no mind. Souta stared at me, his eyes wide and jaws slack with shock.

“Gato...” Tench said, taking a step closer to me. I glanced at him.

“What is it, Tench?” I asked.

“You don't...actually _mean_ that, do you?” the water monitor asked nervously.

“I do,” I replied. “So far, he's done nothing but put himself in harm's way, his plans are worthless because he doesn't even consider that things won't happen as he predicts, and he won't even pay the mammals that are supposed to be protecting him with their lives enough for them to consider him worth their own!”

“They are mercs! I am worth much more than they-” whatever it was Souta had been about to say was cut off as I took a step forward and slammed a paw into the underside of his jaws. His head jerked back and he fell to the ground. I moved to stand over him, crouching down and grabbing the front of his shirt; he stared at me with a fearful expression as I pulled him closer to me, a snarl on my muzzle.

“If you want to live to see the next five minutes, I would be _extremely_ careful with your next words,” I growled. He nodded, swallowing fearfully. “Good. Now stand up and speak.” I released him and stood, turning away and walking back over to where I had been standing before the discussion had become heated. I hadn't even realized I had been shuffling closer to the tod during the matter, but now that I did it made sense how I only had to take a single step forward instead of many to lay him out like I had.

I leaned against the wall and watched as Souta stood, brushing himself off and looking at the others awkwardly. It was telling that they hadn't moved from their spots when I'd hit him. They agreed with me, but not to the point they would do what I had. Probably smart, now that I thought about it.

“I, um...I suppose, in light of recent information from a trusted source...I have decided to defer to your judgement and planning from now on in regards to scenarios that may result in contact with the enemy,” the tod said after a moment. He cleared his throat and I arched an eyebrow. I supposed it was a smart decision, though I disliked that I had to practically beat it into him for the tod to finally realize his plans had not been well thought out.

He wasn't done, though.

“Additionally, I have already taken the liberty of ordering the remaining guards to report to the training building to receive hand to hand and weapon training from those among the Agents currently present who specialize in such matters. I do not hope for a miraculously SF-type of guards, only that they will learn _enough,_ ” he said.

“Define 'enough,'” I said.

“Capable without your presence,” Souta replied.

“We might be able to do that,” Tench said. He looked at Sargo and Tambor; they both nodded in agreement.

“Okay, so we've got a good plan for the next few days at most,” I said. The others nodded. “Souta, after today's session, I'll need to talk with your best tactician.”

“Uh, 'today's session'?” Akula asked hesitantly.

“We still got eight hours of daylight left. I say we use five of those for today's session and the final three for developing a long-term plan of defense, attack, and any other possibility,” I explained. The jackal frowned but didn't reply.

“Seems like a good idea,” Tench commented.

“Thank you, Tench,” I said.

“Of course, sir,” the water monitor replied.

“Suck up,” Sargo coughed, clearing his throat. Tench glared at him but said nothing. He was used to the remarks. Any time he and I had been present in the same room back when he was still in training, he would do basically anything I told him to. Even sarcastic orders.

I didn't talk about that, though. For good reason.

“So, we have a plan. What now?” Tambor asked. I looked at him.

“Now, we put that plan into action,” I replied. Without another word, I turned and walked out of the room, intending on doing as I had said.

 


	12. 11: A Different Perspective

Across the city from where Souta's compound lay was a decrepit building with walls surrounding it and a single entrance at the main gate. It was a compound much like Souta's, though restricted to a single building and not much open space to walk around in. Perhaps fifty feet between the walls to accommodate the building, with only fifteen feet not occupied for walking around outside.

The building was made from concrete, a faint beige color staining the walls showing where the paint had faded. A couple mammals – a timber wolf, a lion, a red wolf, and a jackal – stood outside, making sure that no unknown or hostile mammals entered the premises. All four mammals were armed, though the weapons varied.

The timber wolf carried a M4 rifle with an ACOG sight, a three dot laser sight on the barrel shroud's right rail system with a high-powered flashlight on the left side. An extended quickdraw magazine carrying fifty rounds made the weapon a bit unwieldy but gave the wolf more shots. A vertical Grip Pod made the weapon a bit easier to wield and aim, though did not negate the cons of the larger magazine without the bipod deployed. On the canid's hip was a Colt 1911 with a red dot sight and a strobe flashlight on the underside rail.

The lion carried a KSG 12 shotgun with a holographic sight on the top rail system. A laser sight sat on the side rail, a PVS-14 sitting atop a helmet ready to be deployed for use with the laser sight. On the feline's back was an Auto Assault 12 with a flashlight on the underside rail and a red dot sight on the top rail. He carried two drum magazines in pouches in front of his stomach, with a myriad of black shotgun shells strewn about about his tactical vest for reloading the drums. On his hip was a Beretta 92F with an extended magazine.

The red wolf, who was sitting down on the concrete floor next to the door, had a Walther Q4 TAC in pieces in front of her. She stared at it for a moment, scratching the underside of her jaw, then took a deep breath and began to reconstruct the pistol. To her left lay a Israeli Weapon Industries Tavor STAR-21 with an ACOG sight, a suppressor on an extended barrel, an extended magazine, a laser sight on the side, a strobe light on the other side, and an angled foregrip on the bottom rail. To her right sat a Steyr Armee-Universal-Gewehr with a Forward Looking Infrared Radar sight and canted red dot right. A standard magazine, a suppressor on an extended barrel, and an angled foregrip adorned the weapon. Both weapons were recently field stripped and put back together.

The red wolf slid the magazine into the now-finished Q4 and racked the slide, then flipped the safety on and holstered it. She paused, pulled it out and disarmed the hammer, then holstered it again. You could never be too safe with a firearm, in her opinion.

The jackal stood a couple feet away, watching the red wolf with interest. She glanced at him and he looked away, shifting his feet awkwardly. Cradled in his arms was a Fabrique Nationale Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle Light Variant (FN SCAR-L) with a holographic sight, a flash hider on a shortened barrel, and a standard magazine. On the picatinny rail system was a vertical grip, a laser sight, and a high-powered flashlight. On his back was a Fabrique Nationale Fusil Automatique Leger (FN FAL) with a carrying handle, a flash hider on an extended barrel, an extended magazine, and an ACOG scope with canted iron sights. A Grip Pod and laser sight adorned the firearm's picatinny rail system. On his hip was a Glock 18 with an extended magazine and a red dot sight.

The red wolf stood from her sitting position and reached skyward, letting out a groan as she stretched, standing on her toes as she did so. The jackal glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, gaze drifting downward before snapping forward as she lowered from her toes and brought her arms down. His gaze drifted over to her again as she bent over to pick up the rifles, shouldering them and tightening the straps to secure them in place.

“Oi, Keith, pair up,” the red wolf said, the jackal arching an eyebrow at her.

“Okay...” he said hesitantly, unsure what she wanted. The female canid walked past him and, after sending a confused look at the lion and timber wolf and a shrug to indicate he wasn't sure what she wanted either, turned and followed the red wolf.

The pair walked around the side of the building, moving close to the backside of it before the jackal stopped.

“You gonna tell me what you want that can't be done in front of Mike and Zach?” Keith asked. The red wolf remained silent as she turned to face him, tilting her head as she stared at him curiously. He arched an eyebrow once more. The red wolf sighed.

“Keith, if you want to be subtle when staring at somebody, make sure they can't catch you just by glancing out of the corner of their eyes,” she said. He blinked, then flushed and turned his head away in embarrassment.

“I-I'm sorry, Nat, I didn't mean to be a perv or anything, I-I just-”

“Keith,” the red wolf, Nat, said. He snapped his jaws closed and turned towards her, expecting a reprimand of some kind. Nat walked up to him, keeping her eyes on his. She stopped a foot or so away, then leaned in and tilted her head slightly. He swallowed as she stared at him, her muzzle hovering inches from his. He blinked and let out a noise of surprise when a paw landed on his crotch, cupping him. He looked down to see Nat's paw resting there, then raised his head to look at her in confusion.

“Uh, Nat?” he said curiously.

“Keith, do you realize just how long I've known about your little crush on me?” the red wolf asked. “We have worked together for years. You think I wouldn't realize?”

“Well, no, but I was hoping to tell you properly instead of being caught staring at you like some cliché pervert in an anime or something,” the jackal replied. He raised his gaze skyward and his paws to his eyes. “God, how embarrassing.”

“Did I say I minded?” Nat asked. Keith blinked and lowered his gaze to hers. “Keith, honestly, I've been waiting for _years_ for you to at least work up the courage to fuck me. So do me a favor and strip already.” Keith's eyes widened and he took a step back, holding up his paws.

“Nat, I can't! They'll get suspicious if we're gone for as long as it'll take us to get untied!” he exclaimed. “And even if we _don't_ tie, I'll still be hard the normal amount of time. It's simply too risky to-”

“I don't give a damn,” Nat said, stepping forward and wrapping an arm around Keith's waist. Her paw groped his rear, her eyes staring into his. “Do it. Now.”

 

 

*******

 

 

Inside the building, an armed mammal stood at every corner. Kalashnikovs, AR platforms, M4s, and a couple other foreign rifles, SMGs, and shotguns were all at their disposal. About sixty mammals stood on guard at all times, making it nigh impossible for anybody who tried to assault the compound to get very far. That was, of course, assuming they got inside. Mike, Zach, Nat, and Keith were all extensively trained in firearm usage, paw to paw combat, and knife combat. They were considered the Elite Guard, and aptly so.

One of the most commonly used rooms was the sparring room. Mats and practice weapons covered the floors and walls, and mammals randomly joining in on an ongoing spar was encouraged. It made them ready for real combat, especially against multiple foes. They wouldn't stand around waiting for you to get done with their pals before attacking. That would just be stupid and impractical for winning any fight. Gang up, don't give them an opening or time to gather their thoughts.

Another commonly used room was the gun range. The walls were soundproofed thoroughly and suppressors were used for all the firearms, with ear plugs a requirement for using the range in any way. Even observation or maintenance, since it was open at all times. Punishment for not adhering to regulations was...strict.

All kinds of firearms lined the shelves. M4s, M16s, AR platforms, MK14 Enhanced Battle Rifles, Squad Automatic Weapons, Kalashnikovs, a single Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne G2 (FAMAS G2), a Milkor MGL, Heckler and Koch MP5SDs, G36s, a Sturmgewehr 44, KRISS Vectors, and Magpul FMG-9s. Several pistols such as Beretta M9s, Beretta 92FS', Glock 18s, 19s, and 21s, Walther PPQs, Colt 1911s and several variants, as well as Heckler and Koch HK45 Tacticals, VP Tacticals, and USP Tacticals lined a shelf on the wall opposite the small arms weapons.

Ammunition for all of these weapons and more sat in crates five feet wide by three feet tall by two feet long, with two crates for rifle calibers and one crate for pistol calibers making it so that a sustained firefight could take place and, as long as they didn't spray ammo aimlessly, they could hold out for quite some time.

A side room held tactical gear, body armor, and melee weapons. The body armor came in all the available ratings: IIA, II, IIIA, and III. Included in the melee weapons were combat knives, steel collapsible batons, machetes, short swords, sais, push knives, shurikens, bladed tonfas, throwing knives, and a couple tomahawks. The tactical gear ranged from simple webbing for holding ammo, full vests for protective plates, all the way to a hard plastic type of armor that sloped as much as possible to increase the likelihood of bullets sliding off the armor. It wasn't all that good at stopping a full hit to a non-sloped section, but it made survival in a firefight a much more likely event.

Three crates off to the side held grenades of three types. The first held fragmentation grenades, the second held flashbangs, and the third held smoke grenades. The crates were full, each one holding close to a hundred grenades.

Further into the compound was the crew quarters; exactly forty one bunkbeds rested in the room, each one with a small chest in front for storying clothing. There had been plans to have eighty two regular beds, but they had taken up way too much room so the plan had changed to bunkbeds. The force was made up of mostly canids, with a few felines of relatively similar size, so all the beds were built for timber wolves, with one bunkbed built for the lion and tiger that was in the force. Currently the room was empty, save for the furniture.

Further still into the compound found a group of wolves – A hokkaido wolf, a honshū wolf, an arctic wolf, a timber wolf, a red wolf, and an arctic-timber hybrid – sitting around a table playing cards. Name patches revealed their names to be Ren, Tanikaze, Mikael, Jon, Mike, and Robert, respectively.

“I fold,” Ren said, throwing his cards onto the table with a sigh and leaning back in his chair. Without saying a word, Tanikaze followed suit. Both of them had low cards, no pairs or anything.

“Christ, you two are not lucky at cards,” Jon remarked.

“Or maybe the dealer is playing the game,” Mikael commented. Jon blinked.

“I ain't won either,” he said, confused and slightly offended. “If I was 'playing the game' then I'm pretty sure I would be winning every game.”

“Not if you were smart,” Robert said. “If you were smart about it, you'd win enough to make a profit without giving it away by losing a couple games here and there.”

“Well then he definitely ain't playing the game,” Mikael said. Robert and Mike snorted.

“I would be careful insulting Jon's intelligence. He is the smartest person in the room, after all,” Tanikaze said. “Not that that's saying a lot.”

“I was touched for like five seconds there. Then you added the last bit,” Jon commented, shaking his head. He looked down at his cards, then sighed and tossed them down. A five of spades, six of hearts, two of diamonds, and a ten of spades. “Fold.”

“Seems Ren and Tanikaze aren't the only ones with bad luck at cards,” Mikael remarked. In response Jon just flipped him off and stood from his seat.

“Oi, where're you going?” Robert asked.

“Getting something to eat. I'm hungry,” the timber wolf replied.

“Can you get me something, please?” Ren asked.

“Sure thing buddy,” Jon said. Everyone else looked at Ren. He arched an eyebrow.

“How did you do that?” Mikael asked incredulously. Ren snorted.

“It's called being nice. Maybe you should try it some time,” the hokkaido wolf replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head, closing his eyes and waiting.

Jon opened the fridge in the kitchen, staring at all the leftovers. He frowned, crossing his arms in thought. There was rice, both white and flavored, some leftover tuna sushi, pizza from a couple days prior, cooked tuna, salmon, and a bit of octopus.

He rather liked the tuna sushi, if he was being honest. A bit rubbery, yes, and it tasted odd cold, but it was surprisingly good. He hadn't been expecting it to be as good as it was. The salmon was okay, though he preferred it cooked. He knew Ren liked the raw salmon, though.

With a hum and a nod, he pulled the two sushi dishes and spun on his heel, walking over to the microwave. A couple seconds to warm them up a bit, then back to the game.

When the couple seconds passed he pressed the small lever on the microwave, the door popping open and allowing him to pull the plates out. He turned, heading for the kitchen exit.

When he made his way back to where the others were, he was surprised to find them chatting with their boss. He paused, blinking a couple times, then swallowed and continued approaching the table. He handed the salmon to Ren, then sat down at his seat and nodded to the boss.

“Sir,” he said.

“Jon,” the timber wolf replied. Jon blinked, not expecting him to know his name.

“If I might ask, what brings you to our table?” Mikael asked curiously. Their boss chuckled.

“Just taking a break is all,” he said. Tanikaze looked at the wolf, then looked down at his cards. Jon looked at him curiously, knowing the look that he was giving their boss.

Apparently their boss had noticed it too.

“Something on your mind, Tanikaze?” he asked. The honshū wolf hesitated, then cleared his throat.

“There are rumors, sir,” he said.

“What kind of rumors?” the timber wolf asked, leaning forward curiously.

“That you used to be an Agent, and that's how you were able to succeed in your fight with the Agents guarding Souta,” Tanikaze said. Their boss tilted his head.

“And nobody's thought to ask me if they're true?” he asked.

“Uh, well, no offense sir, but you don't exactly have an approachable look to you,” Tanikaze said. Their boss blinked, as if the information was something he hadn't expected.

“Oh,” he quietly said. “Well, I can tell you right now that they aren't rumors. I was an Agent, about twelve years back. The Agent in charge of their operation to protect Souta is none other than the one who trained me, Agent Gato; his real name is Satō Ito. He has a wife over in Homestead, Florida; Marianne Masterson.”

“Why's she got a different last name?” Robert asked, confused.

“Satō is going to take her name when he retires,” the timber wolf replied. “Or have it put on his gravestone. Whichever comes first.”

“That's...unusual,” Mikael commented.

“I think it's cute,” Jon said. “Wives almost always take the husband's last name. I think it's sweet when the husband takes the wife's last name like he plans to.”

“I must admit that I agree wholeheartedly,” their boss said. “I agree that it is unusual, and I voiced as much to him when he told me his plans thirteen years back, but I supported his decision nonetheless.”

“Thirteen years? They've been married that long?” Robert asked incredulously. “Dang.”

“They've been married almost nine years, actually. Thirteen years ago is when he began to entertain the idea of proposing. Only took him a month to decide to go ahead with it, but it was several months before he worked up the courage. It was funny to see, considering I know just how fearless he can be.”

“How fearless is that?” Mikael asked.

“If he knew where we were, he'd attack with nothing but a pistol and a couple magazines, with a knife for a backup weapon,” the timber wolf said. Mikael scoffed.

“One mammal against all of us? Please,” he said.

“Don't underestimate Agent Gato, Mikael. It will be your undoing if you ever meet him,” the timber wolf said. He smiled faintly. “And trust me when I say that he would win. It would be a challenge, but in the end he would come out on top.”

“I must agree that we would be too many for him,” Robert said. “Training from hell or not, one mammal cannot take out fifty trained others in a straight fight.”

“That's why he'd use a ranged rifle to take out the front guards with a suppressor and far enough away that we'd not hear the shots. Then he'd come in, use stealth to take out as many of us as he can before engaging the rest in a firefight the moment he's found. When all of you are dead or dying, but most likely dead, he'd come for me and we'd have some long, drawn out fight or something like some kind of stupid book or movie or something,” their boss said. He smiled. “At least, that's how it would go without help.”

“Stealth or not, skills or not, we still outnumber him eighty two to one,” Tanikaze said. “I am not saying it could not be done with enough careful planning and inside intelligence on our numbers and guard patrol routes and standing positions, but without that any assault on our compound would be suicide for a single Agent with any equipment short of a tank or BTR.”

“You forget we have five Agents to contend with,” Ren said. “Gato, a red fox; Akula, a jackal; Tench, a water monitor; Tambor, a coyote; and last of all, Sargo, a lynx.”

“You've been doing your research,” Jon commented. Ren shook his head.

“I saw them,” he said. “Did some scouting at the mall they visited a couple days ago to meet up with Souta. After I identified them, that's when I did my research.”

“Do tell,” their boss said, his tone curious.

“I wasn't able to find out much, since the systems of the Agency have some the best protection I have ever seen. I was able to find out info regarding the Agents' families, however, since their files had a bit less serious protection. For Gato I found out that this Marianne Masterson is from Siberia, though only in birth. Less than a month after she was born, her parents went over to America. She's known Gato since his first day in America when she was twelve and soon after he turned thirteen. This was in the early seventies. They've been close friends ever since; they attended school events together, went to prom together, the whole nine yards. In all this time, however, they were never once in a relationship.

“I'm pretty sure the lack of any actual romantic relationship is due to the times, since a simple inquiry to their old friends from those days reveals an intense amount of tension between them from nearly day one. The attraction has always been there, but the issue with mixed species relations has only really become an accepted practice in the last fifteen years. It wasn't unheard of, but it was rare and any practitioners were quickly targeted for hate speech and hate crimes. It amazes me that America says they're so good and righteous but they're so behind when it comes to relations and the rights of their citizens to engage in them. I mean honestly, inter relations have been an accepted practice in Europe for nearly a hundred years. Here in Japan they only received hate speech for a couple years back in the fifteen hundreds before everyone got over it and moved on.”

“Yes, we get it, America is a nation of hypocrisy, thank you Ren,” Robert said.

“Well, he's not wrong,” their boss said. “The inter business is bad enough, I'm sure he could go for days on the other movement.”

“You bet your tail I could,” Ren said. He scoffed. “Lost my brother 'cause a group of people at his school found out he was part of that community. I don't want that to happen to anybody else.”

“I don't blame you,” their boss said. “I can't even imagine what that'd be like. I don't want to, either.”

“Jesus, Ren, I would say I'm sorry but I'm sure you've gotten sick of hearing that,” Jon said. “I know I certainly did after me and the missus split a couple years back.”

“I still have a small scar where you broke the skin under my eye,” Robert said.

“Hey, at least you guys got a family to go back to when this is over,” Mikael said. “I mean, I technically got some, but I'm sure I'm not even on their records anymore.”

“What'd you do to deserve that?” Jon asked. It was the first time he'd heard about that.

“I ran away to become a merc,” Mikael said. “You should know, Jon. You were the one I ran with.”

“Well, yeah, but I didn't know you'd be disowned if you came with me,” he replied. “Christ, Mikael, if I'd known back then-”

“Don't,” Mikael said. “Don't you dare say you wouldn't have asked. This whole business is what I'm good at, and it's what I like. I wouldn't trade this for anything.”

“Not even a longer lifespan?” Tanikaze asked.

“Heh, all of us already know growing old's for the weak,” Mikael said with a smile. He chuckled, as did the others.

“I dunno, getting old seems pretty nice to me,” their boss said. “Then again, I guess I'm still not quite used to being wanted and hunted by my old friends.”

“Ain't it been twelve years since then?” Robert asked.

“Twelve years ago was the accident. More than half that time was spent recovering,” the timber wolf replied. “In all that time they didn't even look for me. They assumed I was dead and just went on with their lives. Even my closest friends had just seemed to forget about me.”

“I don't think I've ever had such a friendly employer,” Robert commented. “Or at least not friendly enough to share these types of things.”

“The past is a trivial matter. I see no reason it should not be explored,” their boss replied.

“Some don't see the past as a 'trivial matter' like you do, sir,” Mikael said. “Some see it as something to be respected. Honored.”

“And there are some who want the past to die,” their boss said in response. “I certainly think the past should be learned from, so as to prevent us from making the same mistakes again, but other than that I see no reason to hold it in reverence. It's full of mistakes, misjudgments, and idiots. The future is unknowable, therefore constantly changing. One tiny little thing can change history. One misfire of a car engine can mask an assassination. One gust of wind can knock the projectile off course and into a wall or a guard or even a random bystander. One system out of place on the weapon can prevent the projectile firing. One. Little. Thing. Is all it takes to change history.”

“You really like your speeches,” Ren commented. The timber wolf chuckled. It was true, he did tend to go off into long winded speeches sometimes.

“It's a trait I'm trying to fix,” he said. “Useful sometimes, but really for the most part it just wastes time.”

Tanikaze cleared his throat. “Apologies for changing the subject, but I must ask, how's the Bush Captain?” he asked curiously. Their boss paused, as if thinking, and was silent for a long moment. After a moment he smiled faintly.

“He's getting there,” he said. Tanikaze nodded and the timber wolf stood. “Speaking of which, I really should be going. I still need to ask him about some things.”

“Shouldn't he get some rest before he's questioned?” Robert asked, confused.

“Oh, it's nothing that will slow his recovery. Just the normal things one is asked after receiving head trauma,” their boss replied. “We don't really have a dedicated medic here – still need to find one – but I'm qualified for the basics and I watch enough medical shows to have at least a rudimentary understanding of the higher level techniques.”

“Aren't they mostly fictional?” Mikael asked.

“I mean the ones who follow actual doctors,” their boss replied. “Sometimes the fake ones for entertainment, sure, but I've done some research to verify things.” With that, he turned and walked off. The others watched him leave for a moment, then went back to talking.

The timber wolf stepped through a door, his friendly look dropping from his visage as he did so. Now his look was more neutral with a shade of aggression. It helped motivate others if they needed it; he'd learned it from Gato back when he'd been an Agent alongside the fox.

His thoughts turned to Bush Squad, and the ruthlessness with which they'd been taken out. He knew Gato could and would use such violent means to take out targets, but he'd never actually seen his carnage. It was all stories to him. That was all he'd ever had to go on for how ruthless Gato could be. Not anymore, it seemed. Now he could see it first hand.

No matter. They may have had help from one of the gun runners in Osaka, but that was only because they'd been attacked inside his domain. That had been a failing of the Bush Captain. His orders had been capture when alone, and he'd moved into the domain of somebody that Tadasuke would really rather not trifle with. It made things much harder than they already would be, especially so with the loss of Gaboon, Milos, and Asp Squads and the almost-loss of Bush Squad. All of them had been some of his more skilled teams, and the ease with which they were dispatched made him nervous. Not that he would ever admit that, but it felt nice to know that age hadn't dulled Gato in any way. It was impressive, considering he was the oldest of the Agents protecting Souta.

Tadasuke stepped through another door and found a female gazelle sitting at a silver table, handcuffs keeping her secured to it. She glared at him as she entered.

“Boss, I already told you, I don't-”

Tadasuke made six, rapid shushing sounds. “Yes, which is why I don't want to hear it again unless I ask,” he said. The gazelle closed her mouth. “Now, Bush Captain, tell me: why did you give the order to attack the Agents when they were in the gunrunner's domain?”

“Your orders, sir, were to capture them as quickly as possible,” the gazelle replied, confusion in her voice.

“No, no, no, no,” Tadasuke replied, shaking his head. “My exact orders were to capture them in the quickest AND SAFEST-” he screamed those two words, slamming his paws into the table “-way possible!” The gazelle jumped in surprise and fear.

“S-sir, I-”

“Do you know what the word 'safest' means, Bush Captain?” Tadasuke asked, cutting her off. There was ice in his voice now.

“In a way that causes as little harm as possible to all parties involved,” the gazelle replied.

“...You know I was hoping that you'd say no, because I had this whole thing I was going for and that just kinda throws it off,” Tadasuke said after a moment.

“Apologies, sir,” the gazelle replied. “Do you want me to-”

“No, no, the moment's ruined,” the canine said. “It's...it's gone. Don't worry about it.” He sighed and rubbed the space between his eyes, shaking his head. “Drama, Bush Captain, it's a dying art.”

“Seems pretty alive to me,” the gazelle replied. Tadasuke grunted.

He waved a paw. “Anyway, back to what we were doing; let's just pretend you said no, cause I still wanna do it.” He cleared his throat. “I am very specific in my wording, Bush Captain. Capture safely-” he put his paws straight and a couple inches apart to his left, then moved them to the same position on the right “-assault a gunrunner's safehouse and lose all the soldiers assigned to you. Do those sound remotely similar?” he asked, the ice back in his voice.

The gazelle mumbled something. “What was that?” Tadasuke said, arching his eyebrows and leaning closer to the cow.

“Gaboon Captain ordered the attack,” the gazelle said, louder this time but still a bit quiet.

“...And you didn't call it off?” Tadasuke asked, confusion at her lack of action clear.

“They wouldn't listen to me,” the cow said. “I tried, sir, really, but they wouldn't listen once Gaboon Captain ordered the attack. I don't know if it's because I'm a female or they just respect him more, but they dismissed my orders and attacked despite my orders to the contrary.”

“So you're saying it's not your fault that the mission was a failure?” Tadasuke asked, as if seeking clarification.

“No, sir,” the cow replied. “I accept responsibility for the failure of the mission, but you should know that I did attempt to make sure it went right.”

Tadasuke stood there for a moment, staring at the gazelle for a long moment before he finally sighed in defeat and reached into a pocket. He pulled out a key and undid the cuffs, then pocketed it again and backed away. The gazelle rubbed her wrists, confusion obvious. “Sir?”

“What is it, Bush Captain?”

“You aren't gonna...kill me, or something?” the gazelle asked.

“Why would I do that?” Tadasuke replied.

“Well, that's what people do in movies...” the gazelle said nervously.

“And the villainous bosses in fiction are idiots. Nobody can kill any subordinate who fails them and expect to keep loyalty for very long. That's just common sense,” Tadasuke said. “So no, I won't kill you. I may have to have somebody supervise you that others will listen to, seeing as they apparently have some kind of issue with taking orders from you, but there won't be any actual punishment.”

“But, why?” the gazelle asked.

“You said it yourself. They wouldn't listen to you once Gaboon Captain ordered the attack. I see no reason to punish you for something out of your control,” Tadasuke answered. He shrugged. “It'd be stupid, honestly. You didn't make an error, not really, therefore no punishment.” He raised a paw, inspecting his claws curiously. “Besides, even if I did punish you, it wouldn't be severe. Maybe have you picking up casings from the firing range and refitting them, checking over the ammunition, weapons, and armor. That's really about it, honestly.”

“Forgive me for saying this, sir, but you don't exactly seem like a very strict boss,” the gazelle said.

“Oh, I can be strict, but I'm also sensible,” Tadasuke replied. He turned slightly, gesturing to the door. “You may go as soon as you like.”

“Thank you, sir,” the gazelle said. She stood, saluted, then walked past him and out of the room. Tadasuke stood there for a moment before he smiled faintly to himself, chuckling, then turned and walked out of the room as well.

The loss of the squads would be a minor setback, but it wouldn't do very much to harm his plans. In actuality, it made his plans easier to accomplish. After all, when it came to infiltration, fewer numbers made everything easier.

 


	13. 12: Attacked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter until the rest are completed

I leaned against the wall of the sparring room, my head back against the wall and my eyes shut. The room was, for the most part, empty barring me. There were a couple of Souta's guards sparring, but it wasn't serious. They were laughing and throwing lazy punches and kicks without weight behind them. They called it just some fun game.

Sloppy and discouraging is what I called it.

The door opened and my left ear twitched, followed shortly by my nose as a familiar scent reached it. I opened my eyes and turned my head, finding Agent Akula walking towards me. She paused when I looked at her, though only briefly. She resumed approaching me after a few seconds; I turned to face her, curious.

The jackal came to a stop a couple inches from me, staring into my eyes for a couple seconds before looking away a minuscule amount. It wouldn't be noticeable from a distance, but this close? It was clearer than plastic wrap.

Odd comparison, I know.

“Are you feelings unwell, Akula?” I asked, tilting my head slightly.

“No, sorry. I just...needed some air,” the jackal replied. She gestured to her head. “Lotta stuff going on up here, just needed to clear it out. You understand, yeah?”

“Of course,” I said. “You ever need to talk, just come to me. I'll listen.”

Akula stood there for a moment, a question obviously on the tip of her tongue. Eventually she sighed and said, “Why, though?”

I blinked in confusion. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“Why would you want to listen to me? I'm not on your team, I've possibly ruined whatever it is that you and Tench had, and-”

“Wait, hold on, is this about earlier?” I asked. Akula said nothing, confirming my suspicions. “Kazuko, listen to me, I don't care about that anymore, alright?”

“But-”

“No, no buts,” I said. “It happened, oh well, get over it. Moping over a mistake isn't going to fix it, and it certainly isn't going to make you feel better about it. It was a one time thing, that's it.”

“Are you sure about that?” the jackal asked.

“Well, if it happens again then oh well, it happens. Don't fret over it because we don't know if it will or won't. Besides, we're grown adults, we can take care of ourselves. Same applies to Tench.”

“But what if he...” Akula trailed off, looking away. “What if he decides he doesn't like that it happened and decides to take matters into his own hands?”

“Trust me, Tench may be prone to emotional outbursts under extreme circumstances, but he isn't stupid. He isn't going to attempt to harm you. He may glare and come off hostile, but he won't do anything physical,” I said.

“You sound rather confident in that,” Akula commented.

“I've known Tench for a couple years. I get to be confident in my assessments of him,” I replied. I cleared my throat. “Anyway, what is it you need? I'm sure you're here for a reason other than talking, yeah?”

“I was hoping to get a bit of sparring in, but there doesn't appear to be anybody here I can do it with,” the jackal said.

“You can do it with me,” I said. We both paused as we simultaneously realized our wording. “Um, you know, spar that is.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant too,” Akula said. She chuckled nervously while a faint smile touched my muzzle.

“Right.” I cleared my throat, then extended my arm towards the nearest mat. “So, shall we start?” I asked, arching an eyebrow curiously.

“We shall,” Akula said. I nodded and we both turned, walking towards the nearest mat and moving to opposite sides of the padded surface. The pretend sparring stopped as the two guards turned to watch us, their expressions curious. I glanced at them, paused, then removed the pistols on my hips and the knife at the small of my back, setting them down on the floor a few feet away from the mat. Didn't want to have those accidentally fall out and onto the mat or anything.

I raised myself up to a stand in time to see Akula do so as well, a single combat knife on the floor behind her. She raised her paws in a combat stance, so I did the same. We both took tentative steps towards each other, our movements slow and methodical as we approached one another. When we were mere inches from each other we stopped, staring at each other. My eyes were narrowed in concentration whereas Akula's barely moved. I sent a jab towards her muzzle, which was deflected easily. I pulled my arm back, tilting my head slightly in curiosity. Now that I thought about it, I never had paid much attention to how she fought. Enough to memorize the basics, but during the one time I'd seen her fight I had been rather distracted myself. This time, however, my attention was fully on her.

Akula sent a jab at my midsection, which I blocked. She twisted her paw and grabbed my wrist, pulling me closer. A knee came up towards my stomach, which I blocked with a paw. I pushed off the ground and used my paw to stabilize myself as I raised my legs and slammed both knees into her chest. She fell back, taking me with her, and I landed with both knees slamming into the mat on either side of her. A brief thought about our unfortunate positioning passed through my mind, but was promptly shut out when the jackal showed off her flexibility by wrapping her ankles around my neck. She bent her legs, pulling me backwards, and I rolled away from her as soon as my upper back made contact with the mat.

I stood, bringing my paws up in a defensive position. Akula brought her legs up again, placing her paws on either side of her head and pushing off the floor as her legs came down towards the mat quickly. She landed on her feet and raised herself to a stand, but wasn't ready for me when I came at her.

My first punch caught her right in the middle of her chest, a gasp escaping her as she stumbled back. My second, this time with a little less force, went for her head; it was dodged as she moved her head to the side and reached up with her paws, turning as she grabbed my wrist and slammed the bend of my arm into her shoulder, leaning forward as she did so and flipping me over her shoulder. I slammed into the mat, a grunt escaping me, and sent a kick into the side of her head. She stumbled away and I rolled over, standing up.

“Hm, quite impressive,” I remarked. “Your style is a bit too heavy on defense and escaping pins or grapples, though.”

“And you're too aggressive,” Akula replied as she faced me, grinning in excitement. I grinned back, enjoying the impromptu spar session. Granted we were supposed to be training the guards, but nobody had showed up yet so I figured why not enjoy the chance while I could.

“I don't think I've ever heard somebody call me too aggressive,” I said. “Rough, sure, but not aggressive.” I sent a wink along with my words, Akula stiffening as a blush heated her face. She looked away briefly, mumbling to herself, then faced me again and set her stance. I chuckled and set mine.

We rushed one another, trading blows and dodging or blocking them. I sent a kick towards her head that was blocked with a forearm; she shoved my leg away, so I spun and sent a follow up kick to the other side of her head. She didn't manage to block that and was sent to the mat.

“I see now...what you meant...about being rough,” she said between deep breaths, shaking her head and standing. She stumbled a small bit, letting out a quiet “Whoa,” as she blinked and shook her head again.

“You okay?” I asked, worried, as I stepped over to her.

“Yeah, yeah, just a bit disorientated from the kick is all,” the jackal replied. She growled to herself, then moved to a combat stance. “We can continue.”

“You sure?” I asked.

“Yes,” she replied. “Strong legs.”

“Kazuko.” She blinked, surprised. I didn't use her name often, or at least compared to how often I called her by her moniker, and the fact I was gave away just how worried I was. “Are you okay?”

The jackal was silent for a long moment before she sighed. “I told you, Gato, I'm fine,” she said. I just looked at her. “I mean it. You don't need to worry.”

“Oh, yeah, that'll make me stop,” I said, huffing. “Listen, Kazuko-”

“Call me Akula,” she said.

“I'm sorry?”

“You heard me.”

“Okay, why?” I asked.

“Calling me by name, it...feels too personal,” she said after a moment.

“Right, because we haven't already crossed that line,” I said sarcastically.

“Anybody ever tell you that you are a huge dick?”

“Well, they usually use stronger words, but yeah, all the time.”

“Alright. Wasn't sure.”

“Okay, listen, Kazuko, Akula, I don't care. What I was trying to say is that no matter what you say, I am going to worry. There's no stopping that, so no point in even trying. I worry about everybody that I have under my command. Whether we're friends, superior and whatever it is they call the opposite of a superior, lovers, or whatever else. I worry because I don't want to see the ones under my command die or get hurt because I wasn't thorough enough, or I wasn't approachable enough if they're having troubles, or I wasn't careful enough, or any other thing I could do better, but didn't, and which resulted in the demise or injury of somebody under my command.” I sighed. “I just don't want to see you get hurt because I failed.”

Akula was silent for a long moment, her gaze downcast towards the ground and an arm drawn across her front, her paw grabbing at her opposite arm's elbow. Finally, she huffed and said, “Well, then you better make sure you're a bit more rough with me. I don't want to die because you were too gentle.”

I smiled faintly, then nodded and raised my arms as I stepped back to my side of the mat. I took in the sight of Akula, focusing only on that as I looked for every detail I could to determine the best way to counter her.

Her arms were raised in a classic protective stance seen in boxing, indicating she knew a style that drew upon it or influenced it. Her legs were bent slightly and her feet planted solidly, spaced apart an acceptable distance. They were tense, giving away her intent to move some time soon. I raised my gaze, intending to take in more detail, this time slower and more personal.

Electric blue eyes stared intently at me, framed nicely by her cheek ruffs and forehead. Her muzzle was slender yet strong, the underside blending nicely into where her head met her neck. Atop her head, her ears were swiveled towards me, most of her hearing picking up on sounds in my direction. Her forearms and paws framed the sides of her head, seeming to be attached to the very end of her cheek ruffs with where they were positioned.

Her neck, normal for a jackal of her build, connected her head to shoulders that were wider than average, scarred, and toned. She'd seen violence, likely multiple times, but she'd come away alive. The edges of a new scar, applied just yesterday, were faintly visible from where I stood. I grimaced minutely, wishing I'd have enough restraint to not apply the bite.

A flat chest, like all mammals not nursing young, held my gaze for longer than her head, neck, or her shoulders. Beneath her shirt was a slightly muscular build that belied her strength. If I had to guess, I'd say she would be considered as being on the high end of the strength chart for a jackal, especially so a female jackal. Her fur pattern was normal for a jackal; no odd markings, no distinguishing features, nothing. Besides her build and scars, she looked like a completely normal female jackal.

My gaze moved to her lower body, focusing on her legs, feet, and tail. Not her tail-end, just the tail itself.

Her legs would be considered medium, probably, on the imaginary chart I'd just made up for what normal was for jackals. Not toned, but not flabby either. Muscles were kept in shape but not developed, if I had to guess. Avoided giving her legs too much attention so she could focus on upper body workouts, though they were in no way something to ignore. Despite the fact she obviously didn't give her legs much work, the little she did was more than enough to make them a formidable weapon to look out for.

Her tail was rather fluffy, if I was being honest. Not too much, but noticeably fluffier than a normal jackal tail. Then again, she did have a substantially thicker coat than normal, so that was probably why. Her coat was so thick, in fact, it gave one plenty of fur to grab onto when-

I banished the observation with a huff and a slight shake of my head, not wanting to think about the matter during a sparring session. Later, perhaps, since I seemed to not yet be over what had transpired between us.

I raised my gaze back to Akula's, rolling my shoulders before charging forward once more. My wide swing, a purposeful action, was easily blocked by a paw grabbing it; a hard kick to the shin, not so much. Akula's leg was forced back and her balance was affected, which I used to pull her towards me with her grip on my arm. I swept her legs out from under her, or at least I thought I did, but in reality she jumped into the air a small amount and flipped, wrapping her legs around my neck as she did and taking me down with her, switching her grip from my right arm to my left as we fell. My arm was pulled out, away from my body and between her legs to rest on her chest. My elbow was being pushed in the wrong direction by her front, and I grimaced in pain.

A tap of the mat later and I was released, Akula pushing off the mat and onto her feet while I rolled over. I looked up to see her grinning in excitement once more, so I responded in kind. “Not often I get taken down,” I said.

“Not rough enough,” Akula replied as she danced backwards, hopping up and down. I grinned and glanced towards the rack holding training weapons, the jackal following my gaze. Her grin faltered briefly when she saw I was looking at the practice knives, her excitement noticeably lowering at the prospect of using something I was known to be extremely proficient in. After a moment she just huffed and gestured toward the rack. I nodded and walked over to it, picking up a practice tanto knives. I turned and tossed it to Akula; she caught it and took a few practice moves as I walked back over to the mat.

“Let's do some disarm drills,” I said, Akula nodding and raising the blade to a typical knife fighting position. I kept my arms down by my sides as she psyched herself up for a possibly painful takedown. After a couple moments she swallowed, set er jaws, then rushed forward. Her first swipe, which I stepped back from, was a diagonal sweep from my lower right side to my left shoulder. The followup was a swipe across my stomach, which I stopped by grabbing her wrist. I pulled her towards me as I raised her arm a small bit and turned with my right shoulder towards her. Seconds later her back slammed into the mat from a shoulder throw and I pulled the knife from her grip, dropping to a knee that slammed into the mat next to her head and put the knife to her throat.

“Well,” she said casually, “remind me to never attack you with a knife.” I chuckled and pulled the practice blade away, extending my empty paw towards her. She took it and I pulled her up as I stood, pulling her off the ground a small bit and getting a quiet “Whoa!” out of her after she bumped into me when she landed. She chuckled and took a step back.

“You could use a bit of work,” I remarked. “The attacks you used were basic. Simple to learn, but also simple to counter when you know how. I could show you how some time, whenever we have the chance, and show you how to really stab somebody.”

“Well, you already did that,” Akula replied with a wry grin. I rolled my eyes when I realized what she meant, shaking my head and chuckling.

“You must think you're so clever,” I muttered.

“Sometimes,” she replied. “Then again, sometimes I am clever. I ever tell you the story about when I tricked Isei into using fur dye?”

I laughed and said, “Oh my god, I remember that!” Akula chuckled. “Guy was pitch black for two weeks. Useful when we did our training sessions for nighttime combat, but otherwise he stood out terribly. Ugh, his outfit so did not match him.”

“Oh my god you do have a gay side,” Akula commented.

“I fuck Tench in the ass. Yeah, last I checked I have a gay side,” I replied.

Akula stared at me, eyes wide. She blinked occasionally.

“Well, I didn't need to know that but okay,” she said after a moment.

“Who did you think...?” I trailed off, letting her put it together herself. She frowned in thought.

“I dunno, I never really gave it much thought,” she eventually admitted. “I guess I just assumed it was Tench. I mean, he is bigger and stronger, so he could probably...” She trailed off, letting out a noise that conveyed some kind of negative emotion. I couldn't really tell which one.

“You are right there,” I said. “He is definitely bigger, and also stronger. And bigger, of course.” A grimace appeared on her muzzle. “To be honest, though, he's only really aggressive in combat or the time leading up to it.”

“Combat?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Quite.” I cleared my throat. “But...yeah, no. Tench is more of a follower,” I said. “I admit that I do like when he's aggressive, because in combat it's absolutely awesome, and otherwise he-”

“I really don't want to know,” Akula said. “Can we... We can spar again now, right?”

“Oh, yes, right. Of course,” I said, chuckling. “Sorry. Let's get right back to it.”

And so we did.

I ducked under a high kick, leaning back as I did so. I placed a paw on the mat and flipped backwards, coming up a blocking an attempted jump and knee to my face. The block knocked Akula off balance, flipping her over me. I barely had time to realize her arms had wrapped around my midsection as she fell before I was lifted into the air and over her head, slamming down onto the mat where my neck met my shoulders. I rolled with the impact, coming up onto my knees with my toes on the ground. I used my momentum to rise to a stand, smirking at the stunned look on Akula's face.

“I've never seen somebody recover from that so quickly or easily,” she said.

“You've never sparred with me,” I replied. “That's something you learn when you're a fox learning all the fighting styles I have: how to take a hit, and I mean a hard hit, and get right back up and keep going.” I huffed in amusement. “I can do this all day.”

Akula was silent for a long moment, her gaze downcast in thought.

“Well, let's test that,” she said after a moment. She rolled forward, likely attempting to get a tackle in, but I stepped forward and brought my knee up into the underside of her jaw as she came up out of the roll. Her head snapped back and she fell onto her back. She groaned and I stepped up to her.

“You okay?” I asked. There was a bit of worry in my voice, but not as much as earlier. She looked at me, the groaning stopping, and I tilted my head.

“Yeah,” she said after a couple seconds of hesitation, rolling over and pushing herself onto her knees. She stood, rolling her head on her shoulders as she turned to face me. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

“You sure?” She glared at me and I held my paws up placatingly. “Hey, I have to know,” I said. “I can't, in good conscience, put you in danger when you're not one hundred percent.”

“I'm fine,” she growled. Her tone was a warning, telling me to drop the subject immediately.

I never had been good with following orders.

“You're obviously not,” I said. “So tell me what's wrong.”

“Gato...”

“Akula, if you can't trust me, then who can you trust?” I asked pointedly. She remained silent, her gaze lowering slightly. The question had caught her off guard, or shaken her, or something. Whatever it had done, it had definitely affected her.

She sighed. “Very well.” I arched an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue when she didn't after a moment had passed. “I, um...” She sighed again. “I don't want anything to do with your raid at the end of this. I can't participate in something like that.”

“Even though they're terrorists?” I asked.

“They don't-!” She stopped herself from shouting the words, taking a breath to calm herself a small bit. “They don't know,” she said quietly.

“Doesn't make them innocent,” I replied. “Even if they don't know, they're still terrorists. Our job is to eliminate terrorists and other threats.”

“This is different,” Akula said. “This isn't right, what you have planned, and I can't participate in it. It's not defending your country or even mine. It's murder, plain and simple, of people who are being used as pawns.”

“Why is it only now that you're against this plan?” I asked with a tilt of my head. Akula averted her gaze.

“I don't know. I just know it's wrong and I can't do it,” she said after a moment. I frowned, unsure how to feel about the explanation. On one hand, it showed she was a decent person at heart (I ignored the implications on what it said about me), but on the other hand, she was likely going to be needed in order to pull the plan off successfully.

I sighed.

“Okay, fine then. You can...I dunno, launch the hardcase where and when I tell you to,” I said, waving a paw in the air. “Is that acceptable?”

“I suppose,” she replied.

“Good. Now, why don't we get back to sparring?” I asked.

“Fine.”

And so we did.

 

 

*******

 

 

Nighttime came surprisingly quickly; apparently, sparring will do that to you. I sat in my bed, reading a book on my iPad casually. Akula lay in her bed, one leg crossed over the other as she stared at the ceiling. A knife was in her right paw, twirling around and between her fingers slowly but confidently. Fast enough to not fall to the bed from lack of momentum, but slow enough that she could see what she was doing to prevent a mistake.

Probably new to the skill, if I had to guess.

“So, is it good?” the jackal asked curiously. I let out a “Hm?” and looked up at her.

“I'm sorry?” I said.

“The book,” she clarified. “Is the book any good?”

“Oh, yeah, it's pretty good,” I replied. “Not the best thing I've ever read, but it's not bad.”

“What's it about?” Akula asked, the knife stopping. She set it aside and sat up, scooting back to lean against the wall. She tilted her head.

“A Class Two – meaning complete societal collapse on a planetary scale – Apocalypse,” I began, “has destroyed society. There are people called Kinetics, mammals that have specific forms of psychokinesis. There're no out-and-out telekinetics in the story, because they're basically one in a billion. The opposite end of the spectrum, who serve as primary antagonists but are more like anti-heroes of a sort, is the Assault and Tactical Teams for Apprehending Confirmed Kinetics, though they're often referred to as the ATTACK Force by themselves, Kinetics, and normal people alike. The best part is that one of those people is a Kinetic themselves.”

“What kind?” Akula asked.

“Syrmakinetic,” I replied. The jackal tilted her head in confusion. “Sorry, he has the ability to form and manipulate wires.”

“So basically Walter from Hellsing,” Akula commented.

“Basically, yeah,” I said. “To be honest, I didn't think you'd know about that series.”

“No proper Seinen fan doesn't,” she replied. “Hellsing, Black Lagoon, and Berserk are like the Seinen trifecta.”

“Elfen Lied is also pretty good, though the manga is better. Adaptation was okay, but manga is definitely better,” I said. “Neon Genesis Evangelion is another one that every Seinen fan should at the very least know about.”

“I agree with you there,” Akula said with a chuckle. I opened my mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by the sound of an explosion. My head whipped around and I put a bookmark into the novel, setting it down on the bed as I stood. Akula also stood; we exchanged glances, then turned and, not even caring about modesty, began stripping so we could put our suits on.

When we were both ready we armed ourselves; I grabbed my New Nambu 57, holstering it for now as I turned to see Akula holster a pair of steel-colored Beretta 92s with extended slides and ivory grips.

“You going for a Sword Cutlass vibe with those?” I asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Just gotta get the engravings,” Akula replied, grinning at me and making me chuckle.

“Christ, you are something else,” I muttered, shaking my head. Nothing else was said as we both rushed out of the room, sprinting down the hallway. We stopped by the armory, arming ourselves with a pair of non-customized AR 15s. We loaded them, grabbed a couple spare magazines, then secured them and ran out of the room. We exited the building to the sound of gunfire, finding several guards exchanging fire with armed attackers. I exchanged a look with Akula, then we both turned and rushed back inside. We needed to find Souta, or else we wouldn't be able to communicate with the guards.

Akula broke off to search the main rooms of the compound while I went to the security office, sprinting down the hallways until I came to the door. I pulled the AR 15 into my paws and turned, checking the hallways after knocking on the door. I heard it open and backed inside, sweeping the rifle side to side until I was fully inside the room, then turned and slung the rifle. Souta sat in a chair, staring at a computer monitor and nibbling at a nail. A guard shut the door behind me, backing away from it and drawing a Glock, aiming it at the door. I ignored him and walked up to Souta, nudging him.

“Oi, Souta, tell me you got some kind of plan,” I said. He looked at me, then nodded. I arched an eyebrow, gesturing for him to elaborate.

“We lure them in, then you and the other Agents will ambush them. Hide in the drywall, the rafters, I don't really care what you do. Just ambush them and leave none standing,” he said. I grinned beneath my mask.

“That's exactly what I had in mind,” I said, dipping my head. He glanced at me, smiling faintly in amusement, and I hesitated for a moment before swallowing my pride, bowing. His expression was shocked when I raised myself up, though quickly changed to his normal, cocky, faint smirk.

“Never thought I'd see the day you bowed to me,” he remarked.

“Never thought I'd do it,” I replied as I turned and walked over to the door. I drew my New Nambu 57 and raised it, tilting it slightly and hugging it close to my chest as I pulled the door open. I stepped out and cleared the hallway, then holstered the pistol and pulled the AR 15 into my paws, crouching down and raising a paw to my ear, activating the comms. “Akula, I've found Souta. Meet me in the living room and I'll tell you the plan.”

“Acknowledged. See you there, Gato,” Akula said. I cut the comms and stood, setting a measured walking pace and keeping the rifle pointed in front of me. I swept it left and right, as I approached doors, rotating as I passed them to look into them quickly. I did this perhaps three times before the living room came into view, just past a final set of doors.

I came to a stop just before the two doors, cocking my head slightly. I slowly and silently slung the rifle, drawing my New Nambu 57 and aiming it towards the drywall to the right of the door on my right. I fired into both sides of the wall, a thump a few seconds later telling my I'd hit my target. I barely had time to turn before a coyote ran out the door to my left, wrapping their arms around my waist and slamming me into the drywall. I grunted and raised a paw, bringing my elbow down on top of his head once before wrapping my left arm around his throat. He pawed and clawed at my forearm, trying to get me to release him, but I just tightened my grip, holding on until he went slack. I pushed him away and put a bullet into his skull, then turned and continued towards the kitchen.

Akula stuck her head out as I approached, her mask hiding her expression but likely wide-eyed. She looked around when she saw me approaching, then shook her head and disappeared. I chuckled to myself. I turned and stepped into the living room, finding Akula waiting for me. She leaned against the wall, one of her pistols in her paw. She stared at me and I dipped my head.

“Souta says to get ready. He's gonna recall the others and lure the rest of the attackers in, and he wants us to hide to ambush them,” I said. Akula nodded, then reached into a pouch on the small of her back and unzipped it. She pulled three suppressors out, tossing me one. I caught it and began screwing it onto my pistol, Akula doing the same with her pistols. She reached back again and pulled two more out, tossing me one. I dipped my head and began putting it onto the AR 15, then secured the rifle again as I raised my pistol.

“He say where he wanted us to wait?” Akula asked after a moment. I shrugged.

“He said to hide wherever. Walls, ceiling, side rooms, wherever you need to,” I replied. “Let's keep things silent until we whittle them down, yeah? Don't wanna give ourselves away too early and ruin the fun.”

“I would hardly consider this fun,” Akula commented.

“You know very well what I meant,” I said. She chuckled.

“Yeah, I do.” She cleared her throat, then waved me off. “Go find somewhere to hide. I'm gonna look around,” she said.

“Don't let our next meeting be finding the other in a body bag,” I said.

“Same to you,” she replied. I smiled under my mask, then turned and walked out.

Six minutes later found me standing on a rafter above the first diverging path, a knife in my right paw and my left paw holding onto the support beam next to me. I waited, hearing strained and body completely alert.

The first mammal, a cougar, walked into view slowly, their steps slow, calculated, with a FN SCAR-H in their paw. Three other mammals, a bobcat, lynx, and puma respectively, appeared with the same slow, calculated pace that showed they were professionals. Not that it would matter, of course, but it would make things interesting.

As the puma passed below me I tightened my grip on the knife and turned, dropping off the beam and landing on the black feline's shoulders. They fell to the ground with a shout and I slammed my knife into the back of their neck, ripping it up and to the side as I raised my gaze to the three felines who seemed to be turning in slow motion. I leapt forward, rolling and slamming a fist into the bobcat's stomach. They doubled over and I shot up, slamming my knife into their chest as we passed. They let out a gasp, gurgled a bit, then dropped forward when I pulled my knife free and executed a quick 360 turn while simultaneously dropping to a knee. I threw my knife and it sank into the lynx's neck; I ignored them as I rushed the cougar. They barely had time to react, not even being able to raise their SCAR in time before I was in the air, slamming a knee into their muzzle. Their head snapped back and they stumbled, dropping the rifle and drawing a knife. They held it in a reverse grip as they rushed me, swinging up and then to the side before I caught their wrist and twisted it, catching the knife as it fell and bringing it up as hard as I could into the underside of their jaw. I pushed them away and let them fall as I turned away, pulling my knife from the lynx's throat and wiping it off. I sheathed it, then looked around and jogged off to find another ambush point.

I turned a corner and came mask to muzzle with a coyote. They gasped and took a step back, fumbling for their pistol, but I was faster; the shots weren't quiet by any means, but they were quieter than if I hadn't been using a suppressor. Three shots, two to the chest and one to the head, and the coyote fell to the ground, lifeless and blood pooling around him. I stepped past him, raising the pistol and walking forward slowly. A cougar rushed around the corner and got the same treatment as the coyote, falling to the ground and sliding a couple inches. I hummed and paused, arching an eyebrow. Didn't know the floors were slick enough for that.

With a grunt and a decision to ignore the oddity I continued on my way, sweeping the pistol back and forth as I walked.

Further down the hallway, as I passed a door, a mammal slammed into my side and sent me sprawling. I sat up quickly and aimed my pistol, only to have it smacked aside. I released it, not having time to worry about holstering it, and leaned back as a wolf leaped at me. I brought my legs up and pushed, throwing them against the wall behind me with a sickening crunch as I rolled backwards. I stood and turned to find the wolf laying on the ground, their head at an awkward angle. I scoffed and walked over to where my pistol had slid to a stop, picking it up. I checked the magazine, mentally shrugged, then slapped it back in and turned, continuing on my way.

It wasn't for another two minutes before I came across a group of mammals dressed in black, their backs turned to me as they aimed their rifles directly ahead. I didn't hesitate to fire a round into the back of their heads, only for the slide to lock back before I could shoot the final mammal. They turned, their eyes wide in shock, and I tossed the pistol aside and pulled the AR 15 from my back. I raised it at the same time as they raised their own AR, both of us firing nearly at the same time. My shoulder jerked back from the impact and they stumbled back, but I ignored the hard shove and fired twice more. The first caught their center, the second finding their neck and sending them to the ground choking. I shook my arm and approached the mammal – a liger, as far as I could tell – with my rifle pointed directly at them. They looked at me with panic in their eyes, their paws trying to staunch the intense bleeding. I stared at them, then raised my AR a slight bit and fired, their head jerking back and paws going limp. I raised my gaze from them and turned, picking up my New Nambu 57 and reloading it before continuing on my way.

My pistol led the way, the distant sound of gunfire telling me that Akula had found a couple mammals. I ignored the tinge of worry, focusing instead on straining my hearing for any sign of somebody trying to sneak up on me. I was on high alert, my body tensed as I waited for somebody to appear.

The only warning I got was a quiet, almost silent, scuffle behind me. I turned and blocked an attempted punch with my forearm, a second paw grabbing my pistol and pulling it from my grip. I let it go, dancing backwards and raising my paws in a defensive stance as I rest my gaze on a pair of mammals, one with tonfas and one with a pair of tomahawks. I arched an eyebrow, wondering why they carried close melee weapons but not really caring. They were enemy combatants, which meant they were to be eliminated.

A smirk appeared on my muzzle underneath my mask; this was going to be easy, assuming there were no surprises to catch me off guard.

The mammal with tomahawks rushed me, swinging one close and the second wide in an attempt to trick me into stepping away from the first into the path of the second. It was a good attempt, but not quite good enough. I stepped forward quickly, ducking below their axes and sending a hard punch straight into their stomach. They stumbled back and I raised myself up, grabbing their wrist and yanking on it. There was a cracking sound and a scream escaped the mammal as the tomahawk fell from their paw. I caught it and spun, slamming it into their throat as hard as I could. They gurgled as their legs jerked out from under them, nearly pulling a ninety degree flip before they hit the ground.

I turned in time to duck under a tonfa, coming up and receiving a kick to the side of my head. I stumbled a small bit, turning with the impact and barely managing to dodge my head to the side and avoid a blade. 'So, bladed tonfas, eh? Alright then, let's see what you can do.' I dodged another swing, ducking under it and sending a hard jab into the mammal's midsection that sent them stumbling back. I pressed my advantage, stepping forward sending a right hook into their jaw, following up with a hard left hook into their side; a faint cracking sound accentuated the hit. They yelped and backed away, clutching their side and panting. I grinned and they spat to the side, a tooth falling to the floor. I let out a “Hm” in surprise.

“I see our boss wasn't messing around when he said you Agents were skilled,” the mammal said.

“Oh, you've no idea,” I said, rushing him. I saw him tense, preparing to feint and slam a tonfa blade into my midsection, and I pushed off to the other side. His reaction was too slow, not even having time to even turn his body a significant amount before I drew a knife and pushed off again, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground with the knife in his chest. I rolled with the landing, coming up with the knife in my paw and staring down at him. He let out choking sounds as he lay there, trying to staunch the bleeding but unable to. I sheathed the knife and turned away, pulling the AR 15 into my paws and aiming it down the hall as I continued on my way, leaving the dying mammal on his own.

I arrived at a junction shortly thereafter, pressing my back to the right wall and edging closer to the junction, aiming towards the left route. I came to a stop right next to where the wall cornered off and went to the right. I took a deep breath, then spun out into the junction and dropped to a knee, facing to the right path. When I saw it was clear I turned and cleared the left path, nodding to myself and standing. I raised a paw to my ear, activating the comms; I sent a click along the line.

“Akula here. Need something, Gato?” I let out a quiet sigh of relief, then looked around.

“How many?” I asked.

“Thirty,” Akula replied. I whistled.

“Impressive. I've only met...what, a little over ten, I think? I dunno, didn't count,” I said.

“...Where are the other ten, then?” Akula asked nervously. I frowned and thought the question over for a moment, silent as I went over the layout of the building in my head. I tensed as I realized something.

“Where are Tench, Sargo, and Tambor?” I asked, silence stretching over the line.

“Oh no,” Akula said, realization in her voice. I cut the comms and turned, slinging the rifle and sprinting towards the main entrance. I hopped over the bodies of the attackers, jumping up and pushing off a wall at a corner turn.

I arrived at the main entrance to find Akula conversing with Souta, the tod looking nervous. He nodded to a guard, who turned and ran past me, likely towards the security room. I came to a stop next to Souta and Akula. “What's the word?” I asked.

“We're pulling out all the tapes, but so far we've found nothing,” Souta said. “Chances are the attack outside was a distraction and they sent some in from the back or from above, then made their way to the rooms the others were inhabiting.”

“But they aren't there, right?” I asked, Akula turning her head slightly to look at me.

“No, they aren't,” Souta said. I took a deep breath as I turned away, walking over to a wall and placing both paws on it to hold myself up. My right paw clenched as I slammed it into the drywall, cracking it. I looked over my shoulder when I felt a paw on it, finding Akula standing there. Her helmet was collapsed and a worried expression was on her face.

“We'll find them, Satō,” she said. I stared at her for a moment before turning away.

“Watashitachi no tomodachi wa watashitachi ni mayotte imasu,” I said, speaking Japanese for the first time in several years. Akula appeared surprised at what I said, then looked away.

“We don't know that,” she replied. I sighed.

“No, I suppose not,” I replied, going back to English. I pushed away the thought that nagged at me, reminding me of the reason I had forsaken my native language so long ago, then shook my head. “Anyway, we need to focus on the stuff we do know for sure. Let's get Souta and have a meeting or something.”

 


End file.
